Forget “DJs don’t dance no more”, crowds don’t dance no more.
Have you ever been to a concert and realised you’re watching it through your phone screen? Or even worse, through the screen of the person standing in front of you?
It’s become common to hear complaints that phones are ruining concerts and gigs. So, when fans found out Harry Styles’ one night only concert in Manchester would be phone free, you might expect them to welcome it. Instead, the reaction was surprisingly mixed.
Some fans even took to social media ready to sell their £20 tickets!
The show, held at Manchester’s Co-Op Arena, celebrated the release of Harrys new album, Kiss All The Time. Disco Occasionally, which was released on March 6th. The album has strong themes of community and togetherness, echoed in lyrics like “we belong together” from the single Aperture, the no phone police felt like an extension of the album’s ethos.
Without phones, audiences are encouraged to live in the moment, free from the pressures of capturing the perfect photo or video to post on socials. The result is often a more engaged crowd being able to fully embrace the music, performance and more connected to both the artist and each other, without looking out onto a sea of phones.
However, for a lot of people it feels if it’s not on your Instagram story, did it ever happen?
But Harry Styles had this covered, to ensure fans could preserve their own memories of the night, each attendee was given a disposable camera. Plus Netflix rocked up to the event to film and put the concert on the platform.
Safety concerns were addressed too. While cameras were restricted, phones weren’t completely inaccessible, screens could still be used, allowing fans to stay in contact with friends or family if needed.
However, this may not convince everyone. For many fans, filming concerts isn’t just about a 10 second clip for socials, it’s about being able to capture the concert through their own lens and being able to capture their own memories, not the concert through a Netflix production team.
For many, concerts are not a cheap hobby, for some the concert could be a once in a lifetime experience being told you can’t record it can feel frustrating, even unfair. Especially for fans attending the one night only concert who were told after buying tickets about the no phone policy.
If more artists want to carry the same sentiment of no phones then they must be able to adopt similar policies, addressing fan concerns will be key and Harry’s team have set a strong example of how to execute a phone free concert.
By balancing restriction through providing alternatives for fans, they showed it’s possible to prioritise presence without sacrificing memories or safety.
Perhaps it’s time for artists to revisit the early 2000s and bring back concert DVDs so fans can relive the moment without feeling the need to document every second themselves.
But the question is, are we really ready to put our phones down and live in the moment?
Photo Credit: @netflixuk on Instagram
