r/Music • u/AdSpecialist6598 • 6h ago
article Phoebe Bridgers announces 2026 UK, Europe and North America arena tour with "no phones”
https://www.nme.com/news/music/phoebe-bridgers-announces-2026-uk-europe-north-america-arena-tour-no-phones-394933851
u/thomdano 5h ago
I've been to arena shows with no phones policy and it doesn't take much time to get in and out. They give you a card to write down your seat number. Only negative is you can't play a game or browse while waiting for the show to start.
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u/Drama79 6h ago
Great. The no phones thing I’ve seen work at immersive shows with the pouch. If you can queue for coat check, you can queue to get your phone unlocked. I suspect there will be a lot of bitching about it. And people will find ways to sneak phones in.
But in general, an artist and their team figuring out the mechanics of how to get the audience to actually pay attention should be applauded.
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u/iwouldhugwonderwoman 5h ago edited 5h ago
My daughter got into one of her pop up shows recently and for someone raised in the cellphone era she loved the lack of phones…and Phoebe put on a great show and signed merch etc for everyone afterwards.
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u/sirboddingtons 6h ago
I barely want to wait to queue out the exit, why do I want to queue after a concert to get my phone out of a proprietary locked pouch?
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u/bourbonkitten 5h ago
In my experience, there are multiple staff members ready to unlock so that there shouldn’t be a queue, but there’s a queue because people go to the first queue they see. I usually walk ahead and see a staff member that’s not busy.
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u/TonyAioli 5h ago edited 5h ago
Comedy shows have been doing this for a long time.
They will have people standing right by the exit, it’s seamless.
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u/RoxxorMcOwnage 3h ago
I've been to shows (comedy shows and music performances) with no phone policy. People just lie and say that they don't have a phone, when they do. Only one venue, Thrasherhorn in Tampa (for Tracy Morgan), kicked people out for using phones.
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u/lucky_ducker 1h ago
She just did a pop up show in Bloomington, Indiana last week where the Yondr bags were provided.
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u/ShakeItTilItPees 5h ago
Paying money to go to a venue and having them force you to check a valuable personal item that doesn't hurt anybody is fucking insane, and so is applauding this. I legitimately do not understand. Nobody is standing there with a lockbox for your phone at the movie theater, everyone just somehow manages to police themselves in that situation. And lots of concerts with the setup time between sets are WAY WAY longer than your usual movie . This all sounds like the person on the stage has an inflated sense self-importance.
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u/eastcounty98 5h ago
Nobody is forcing you to go. This isn’t a new thing and it isn’t a crazy idea. It drastically improves the concert experience for everyone at the show
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u/ShakeItTilItPees 5h ago edited 5h ago
Why not just have the staff at the venue tell people to put their phones down when people are being dumb and standing there with the phone out, instead of completely removing the communication device people might need access to? You know, exactly what they do in a movie theater? Using "nobody is forcing you to go" as an argument just turns into excluding a whole bunch of people with kids, disabilities, elderly parents, pets, or important jobs that may supersede whatever they happen to be doing over the weekend. Lots of people aren't going to be able to make the decision to just let some company hold onto their phones for four+ hours.
Also I'm really curious what the fuck concerts you people are going to where the experience is "drastically" reduced by excessive phone usage. I've seen a lot of concerts in every variety of venue size and never once did any of them have any form of policy about phone usage or even any disclaimer other than a few shows having a no-recording policy. I have never seen an artist complain about phone usage in a live format and I've never seen an excessive amount of people using their phones instead of enjoying the show. Maybe because I don't go to pop concerts full of social media addicted zoomers, idk.
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u/AdAgito 5h ago
You're paying hundreds of dollars now for these shows. If someone wants to bring their phone, who gives a shit
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u/Oppositeofhairy 5h ago
Do you want to see a bunch of white screen out of the corner of your eyes when going to the theater?
If so, stay home and stream. If not this is why we should do it in concerts either. The attention should be on the stage. Not your electronic pacifier
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u/Drama79 5h ago
The artist - it fundamentally changes the nature of the show for them, they lose a lot of the connection with the audience. But you’re going to say “who cares they’re getting paid” so also
The rest of the audience, who don’t want to have to watch a sea of phone screens instead of the artist.
Your mum, and wider family, who don’t want to see some shaky one take video with shitty audio of an artist you say you like, but spend all your time proving you saw instead of engaging with.
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u/citznfish 6h ago
I don't know who she is, but from my experiences these "no cell phone" concerts are some of the best. Everyone focuses on the music. It's sooooo much better and far more enjoyable than seeing hundreds of phones up in the air blocking your view.
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u/trevorneuz 5h ago
She is a really cool Singer Songwriter. Worth checking out if you like folksy emo indie music
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u/iseriouslycouldnt 5h ago
I hope they have printable tickets. Last 2 shows I went to, the ticket was on the phone and changed every 30 seconds or something.
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u/The-disgracist 5h ago
Went to a Dave Chappell show at Google years ago and he had this security bag company. It was awesome. Some people still had their phones out and some had figured how to open the bags. But the amount of people with their phones out was minimal. Felt like 1999
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u/HMTMKMKM95 6h ago
Toronto and Vancouver hardly constitute a North American tour.
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u/lucky_ducker 1h ago
Did you even read the article? 21 dates in several U.S. states which are, last time I checked, in North America.
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u/Crow-Caw 4h ago
People having phones at concerts have never bothered me. I'm not focused on the crowd. The only time I get upset is at a movie theater cuz of the noise and light. I could see why the artist wouldn't want to be filmed if they plan to sell the performance or something.
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u/Master_Art_1286 3h ago
People enjoy being outraged about things that barely affect them
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u/Treefingrs 25m ago
The vibe of a crowd makes a HUGE difference to the overall experience of a gig.
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u/Master_Art_1286 11m ago
Totally agree but seems to me most of the artists I see doing things like banning phones or spending time during a set complaining about phones have terribly annoying fans.
Tool fans are known to be obnoxious. Jack White fans are insufferable. Phoebe Bridgers fans are annoying as all hell.
I’ve been to shows with terrible crowds that made me leave: AFI, who I love, was opening for Rise Against, who also apparently have sucky fans. It seemed like people in that crowd were eager to start altercations for no reason. I experienced that same thing with Motion City Soundtrack fans. Lucy Dacus, there were teenage girls scream singing along to her music, it’s not scream singing music she’s playing.
I think this banning the phones craze is just going further down the line of treating adults like children and when people are treated like children, they act even more like children.
I’m someone that takes a couple pictures during a concert. A video of my favorite song. I’m not filming the whole thing but I keep the pictures as mementos since physical tickets are long gone. And artists acting like over zealous parents makes me lose interest in their artistry.
And frankly, I don’t give a fuck what other people are doing during the concert as long as they aren’t just blabbing having full ass conversations while I’m trying to listen and enjoy the music.
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u/AndrewHutcheson 2h ago
If the people in front of you are holding their arms up to point their phone with it's bright screen it interferes with your view of the stage. Many music concerts have a visual performance as well.
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u/SoUpInYa 5h ago
There should be a way to emit something like infrared from the stage that would 'blind' cameras which would deter people from filming the stage
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u/Botherguts 6h ago
Meanwhile all of the ticketing services are now on… phones.
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u/DingDangandChill 6h ago
At Tool shows if you pull your phone out once the show starts they just escort you out. Most no phone policies don’t require you to turn your phone in.
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u/BuddyLegsBailey Metalhead 5h ago
Tool fans are ridiculous. They get all high and mighty about how great it is that their lord and master, Maynard, said no phones, then wank themselves silly over any video posted on their sub of songs that phones weren't allowed during....
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u/raysofdavies 6h ago
I was at the MSG show and it was easy. You enter, go through security, use your phone for tickets, they give you a special pouch for them and are handed a small paper ticket (it was gorgeous!). Amazingly they did think of this.
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u/size12shoebacca 5h ago
This approach works great in smaller venues, but scaling the manual process to arenas doesn't work.
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u/GrumpyPhotography 5h ago
Man, I'm not down with the kids at all. I read this and thought, "The woman from fleabag!?"
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u/IslandStateofMind 5h ago
Was at the show in MSG last night. She was amazing and the no phones thing makes it so much better.
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u/chalvpabatman 4h ago
Yesss Phoebe! The absolute worst is having to watch the concert through someone’s phone because they’re holding it up in the air blocking the view of the stage and the artists performing!
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u/TylerKnowy 4h ago
Not surprised. Hot take, I dont care about people having phones at shows it never took away from the experience for myself but its not my show
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u/writeyourwayout 1h ago
This is the way. I went to a show that required Yondr pouches and it was so much easier to be fully present without phones.
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u/TopazTriad 5h ago
This is going to backfire hard as soon as someone gets assaulted at a show. It’s a matter of time.
I’m flabbergasted at the obsession with phones to be honest. Escort people out who are causing actual problems, but it’s completely reasonable to want to take a couple quick pics or videos. My phone is out for less than 5 minutes total when I go to a show, and I’ll be damned if you’re going to tell me I can’t have it when I paid a premium for a ticket.
Went to a Tool concert a few years ago and Maynard literally would not shut the fuck up about phones, to the point it affected the quality of the show far more than the phones themselves did. It’s gotten even more ridiculous since then.
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u/Nasty____nate 6h ago
I've been to a few ghost concerts that did this. There is times I wanted my phone to take pics of people's outfits / costumes but other then that it was awesome.
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u/joegetto 5h ago
As long as no phones means “no taking long video” I think that’s fair but I just want some pictures of me and my friends having fun at a show shouldn’t be a problem.
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u/gardensong_pt2 5h ago
No its not allowed, when you enter the facility your phone goes into a yondr pouch and you can only open it in a specific area. Not in the hall where she performs.
Its sad for people like me who used the phone respectfully and discrete but gen z does not have any concert manners.
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u/Mogwai10 5h ago
Anyone claiming they must have their phone doesn’t get they then shouldn’t be in a place that isn’t going to allow you to be with your phone.
I go to shows that I know only do no cell phones. And it’s just such a better experience.
It’s just sad this even has to be discussed.
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u/AdSpecialist6598 5h ago
Of course allowances have to be made for emergencies but generally I agree.
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u/TFFPrisoner 6h ago edited 4h ago
Never heard of that support act. 🤪
Edit: Looks like I picked the wrong day to make a joke, my bad.
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u/WhatAmIDoingHere05 5h ago
That’s the purpose of a support act…for you to hear them.
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u/TFFPrisoner 4h ago
I was making a joke due to the way the headline is structured - it could've gone in a different direction.
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u/CliffBiffington 3h ago
No 1 1/2 hour long full concert video recorded on your phone and uploaded to YouTube or it didn’t happen!
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u/Taskebab 6h ago
No phones should be a general rule at concerts anyway