Phoebe Bridgers wants you to be in the moment

If you’re a five-foot-something frequent concertgoer like me, you’re probably familiar with the inevitable phone wall: watching your favourite artist through the cracked phone screen in the hands of the tall guy in front of you.

Phoebe Bridgers marked her return to the public sphere with an Instagram post on June 5, captioned “I’m going on tour no phones.” 

Bridgers’ the Lost Tour prohibits all recording and electronic devices, making concertgoers use Yondr pouches upon arrival. These cloth pouches lock fans’ phones for the duration of the concert through a magnet similar to clothing security tags.

After attending, I can confidently say this phone-free concert was life-changing. 

The showstopping visuals were stronger without my phone in my hand — I felt truly free. During a surprise performance of Bridgers’ song “Punisher” during night two in Toronto, I was one of about 19,000 fans in the Scotiabank Arena who screamed at the top of their lungs. 

It was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. That moment of freedom — not the fear of embarrassing myself in the background of someone’s video — was undoubtedly more valuable than having a video collect dust in my camera roll. 

I enjoyed the experience more than I expected, especially due to the concerning discourse online. Immediately after her no-phones announcement, it felt like two kinds of people were voicing their concerns: 

Those genuinely concerned about accessibility and looking for a solution, and those attempting to cause outrage out of nothing. 

Accessibility at concerts is a real issue. If fans spend hundreds of dollars to see an artist live, they deserve to have a comfortable experience.

After the Lost Tour officially started, accessibility concerns were mostly settled online. One user on TikTok reported that venue workers permitted their request to keep their phone with them as a Type 1 diabetic. Instead, they were given a sticker to cover their camera and instructions to be discrete. Fans also adapted and got creative, bringing notebooks and pens to concerts to replace photos with drawings. 

With these concerns resolved, and many still complaining, it feels performative to keep arguing about an issue that has been answered firsthand. Ultimately, the talk distracts from the presented solutions.

Over the last few years, I’ve noticed the connection between live music and social media has skyrocketed. Now, we are so dependent on technology that the focus is going online, not on the artist. 

Personally, as a top 0.006 per cent fan of Bridgers on Spotify Wrapped, I was just excited to see my favourite artist. It felt disingenuous that so many fellow fans immediately prioritized having their phones over supporting an artist’s wishes. 

With a creator as big as Bridgers adopting Yondr pouches and changing how fans view her live music, should we consider if this is the future of live music?

From an audience perspective, it doesn’t quite feel like it. While my experience, and that of many other fans’, was enriched by the intimate nature of her show, the intense commotion that came with her no-phones announcement demonstrates that audiences are not ready to fully commit to leaving their phones at the door. 

As someone with over 100 concert videos taking up storage on my phone, this was a good lesson about experiencing the moment. 

For now, with a smaller sample size, this system worked and let Bridgers’ fans really appreciate her music and all the effort that’s gone into her performance.

But live music doesn’t have to be all or nothing. These policies respect artists’ wishes, and we fans will just have to continue doing just that. Who’s to say whether every concert will utilize Yondr pouches in 20 years, or they’ll be extinct as a concept altogether.

To me, we need to give these concepts time to develop and show exactly how valuable they can be to both an artist and their dedicated fans.