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What’s it like to go to a concert in the 21st century without a phone?
I found out last Saturday night (June 9) when 42-year-old blues-rocker Jack White threw down a “no phones allowed” order for the Toronto Stop of his Boarding House Reach tour.
It was in effect his entire tour.
I mention White’s age only because you’d think it might be an older classic rocker issuing the “no phones edict” given they all performed in the blessed ‘60s-’70s era were there weren’t any at shows.
It wasn’t really until a decade after I started this job as music critic at The Toronto Sun (in 1995) that I started seeing audience members taking pictures and filming videos as a vital part of their concert-going experience.
Now it’s as though you’re in the minority if you’re not documenting every last second of a live show.
Last Saturday night, if you turned up with a phone – I didn’t want the hassle and left it locked in my car – it was locked up in a Yondr pouch (the phone-free company White’s tour hired to handle the process) and then unlocked when you left the venue. Although there were five areas available for people to use their phones (once they were unlocked) in case of emergency.
For me it meant no picture or video taking and tweeting, which eats up a lot of my night as a reviewer, and being able to stay in each glorious moment of rock n’ roll as White, slick as ever, took his band – and us – through almost two hours of blustery, bluesy rock with the feverish approach of a preacher.
“Who’s with me?” he yelled at one point.
The answer seemed to be everyone.
I spoke to the Riley O’ Connor, the Chairman of Live Nation Canada, who called the night “pretty magical” while Budweiser Stage General Manager Adrian Walker said it went off without a hitch.
“I think it went so smoothly because people were just wanting to be in the moment and be into the night,” said O’ Connor. “It’s like old-school, attending a concert days, right, where your attention was being focused on what was going on, on stage. It was pretty magical. I thought it was refreshing. Just the nature of it. But I don’t know if that’s an age thing though. I’m 67 years old. Somebody 19 – it’s a big novelty to them.”
Added Walker: “(Yondr) were very organized. They brought in about 80 staff along to help facilitate it. It was quite seamless. We didn’t have a backup at the gates at all.”
So is this the future or rather a return to the past where phones at shows were non-existent?
Not necessarily.
“We definitely support on our side, “ said Walker. “It’s tough to tell because a lot of the younger generation of artists, a lot of them want that (social media) interaction. But at the same time, it’s almost getting to the point where you go to a show with a lot of the younger demographics, everybody puts their phones up. So it kind of becomes one of those things where you may start to see a revolt against that and a kind of return to a back-to-basics approach. It could be the start of something. On the other hand, it’s something the tour covers the costs for, but probably assuming it’s an expensive initiative to undertake so not sure how many artists would want to do that.”
White’s not the first artist to disallow phones at a live show in Toronto.
Artists such as Yusuf/Cat Stevens and comedians like Chris Rock, Kevin Hart and Dave Chappelle have also gone this route according, to O’ Connor and Walker.
“Generally, it has been more of a comedian type thing,” said Walker. “So I’m not sure how many other musicians are contemplating it at this point. But, to be honest, there was a lot of positive feedback on it. The majority of people were quite happy to do it and happy to sort of have a phone-free concert experience. I mean I haven’t seen that many lighters up at a show in over ten years.”
Added O’ Connor; “It was a different feel because (lighters) glow – it’s a warm glow.”
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