‘Phone-free zones’ popping up at events
When Melissa Cohen arrived last month at the Palace Theatre for Chris Rock’s “Total Blackout Tour” stop, the entrance line stretched all the way down the next-door alley.
The Powell resident and two friends finally made it inside and discovered the reason for the holdup: Security guards were locking patrons’ cellphones in gray pouches for the duration of the comedy show.
Initially put off by the unexpected directive — Cohen said they weren’t forewarned about the lockup — she had seen the light by the time the show ended.
“It really does give you a psychological check,” she
said. “I’m with two of my best friends — why can’t I just talk to them?”
Like Rock, other highprofile performers — singer Alicia Keys and comedian Dave Chapelle among them — are also opting to use new technology from the San Francisco company Yondr to discourage cellphone use during live performances.
A desire to keep audiences engaged is cited as a factor in the use of the fabric Yondr pouches, whose locking mechanism prevents a cellphone from being used in designated “phone-free zones.”
More often, though, the decision represents an attempt to prevent new content from being “leaked” onto the internet. (In Rock’s case, a recent $40 million Netflix deal to air two specials might draw more viewers if cellphone videos of his performances aren’t first shared via social media.)
Kelly Taylor, director of marketing and public relations for Yondr, said the devices have been used in settings ranging from school classrooms to weddings but are most common at liveperformance events.
The percase rental cost begins at $2 a day, with rates increasing according to venue size and number of tour stops. The performer pays for the pouches.
“Our founder (Graham Dugoni) sort of anticipated this becoming a trend,” she said, referring to the increasing popularity of the product. “The idea is that, based on how much of our lives are spent behind screens, people would eventually reach a breaking point during which unplugged spaces would become a necessity.”
The Lumineers, a folk trio from Denver, introduced the pouches at its performances soon after the Yondr’s release in 2014.
Although the band didn’t return calls seeking comment for this story, an article last year by The Washington Post explained lead singer Wesley Schultz’s frustration with phonefrenzied fans.
“If you yell at the audience or treat them like kids, they’re going to act like kids,” Schultz said. “You want to give people the responsibility and put the onus on them, but how do you do that?”
The bigger the star ...
The ubiquity of smartphones these days essentially makes live entertainment accessible to anyone, regardless of physical presence.
Via countless livestreaming videos on Facebook, photo posts to Snapchat and pithy Twitter updates, fans at home can hear a hit song or a stand-up joke in real time.
The degree of objection to cellphone use at live shows generally correlates with level of stardom of the performer(s): Some musicians (typically, local artists) welcome smartphone-related distractions because they essentially amount to free publicity, but others (usually high-profile national acts) worry about content theft or resent audience disengagement.
John Schwab, lead singer for the enduring country-rock band McGuffey Lane, embraces social-media access during concerts, noting its value for promoting shows and connecting with fans. The band recently surpassed 22,000 “likes” on Facebook, a number the 65-year-old Schwab said he finds incredible.
Similarly, Columbus blues singer Shaun Booker said fan-posted clips of her shows on YouTube serve as a “resume,” helping her generate additional concert bookings.
She encourages the technological interaction for its help in expanding her international audience.
“My mother would say the squeaky wheel gets the oil,” said Booker, 54. “If you put yourself out there, you’ll hear back.”
Part of the experience
The teenage girls aglow with the excitement of seeing pop singer Ariana Grande in person this month filled Nationwide Arena with the glow of thousands of cellphone screens.
Although the performer has banned cellphones at newalbum listening parties, flashes of light populated the arena as concertgoers snapped photos to share and save.
As the cool kids say: Pics, or it didn’t happen.
Cellphone use for videos and selfies at live events can’t be simply described as “good” or “bad” behavior, said Dr. Joseph Bayer, an assistant professor at the Ohio State University School of Communication, who specializes in social networks and mobile technologies.
For many people, Bayer said, phone checking has become a subconscious behavior.
That habit, however, doesn’t automatically make Snapchat posts from a concert a negative, he said.
“We come from a history of trying to minimize distraction at live events. But part of the motivation for going, at least theoretically, is to be in the moment.”
Bayer suggested that, even though subconscious behaviors can lead to a temporary “zone-out,” a broader perspective is needed.
“You can imagine that people go to concerts not (only) to fully immerse themselves in music for three hours but also to interact with their friends,” he said. “Now we have tools to do that on a broader scale.”
The smartphone takeover
Liz Linard has witnessed the smartphone’s steady takeover during her 23 years on the security staff at PromoWest Productions.
When phones moved from the clunky walkie-talkie-esque contraptions of the 1990s and gained recording capability, she said, many bands banned cellphones outright.
“Now they don’t even care,” she said.
On occasion, a band comes through requesting a no-phone policy, which proves challenging for her staff, said Linard, 67. The venue doesn’t use Yondr, she said, so security-team members must detect violators by the phone lights reflecting off their faces.
For the most part, though, she sees the cellphone debate as a nonissue, noting that technology is the way of the world and that musicians must adjust to audiences’ desire to share their experiences.
“I think they’re as engaged,” Linard said. “It’s just in a different way than 10 or 15 years ago.
“They need everyone to see they were part of the action.”