Stop Filming, Start Dancing
Phones kill the vibe.
Last summer, the renowned DJ Bob Sinclar did a show in Mykonos, Greece. Shortly after, he posted a video on Instagram, saying it was the worst gig of his entire career. Why? Because everyone was on their phones.
He said he tried everything, all his biggest hits, like “Love Generation” and “World, Hold On.” He played with “some commercial tech house, went a little deeper,” but people didn’t move. They were too busy filming with their phones. And when people film, they stand still. They’re frozen.
“What are they waiting for?” Sinclar moaned. “It’s like they’re completely dead. It’s a nightmare. I’m so depressed… Maybe it’s my fault. I don’t know. I don’t know what happened. I never felt so bored after a gig.”
A week later, he posted a follow-up video, explaining how the DJ-audience relationship works and why the presence of phones causes so many problems. It’s about an exchange of energy, he said. The DJ gives musical energy, and the audience responds with physical energy, and there’s a back-and-forth, a storytelling of sorts that occurs. Phones block that; they get in the way. They break the flow of energy and change the vibe for everyone. In an attempt to be conciliatory, he said fans can take one video, maybe two videos, but that’s enough: “Focus on the music.”
No Phone Zone
Sinclar is not the only performer to be speaking out against phones. BeatPortal did a deep dive into how more clubs and dance floors around Europe are cracking down on devices. It’s not just about killing the vibe, it’s also a privacy concern. When people want to go out dancing, they should be spared the possibility of getting filmed or photographed.
DJ Chima Isaaro, from Lisbon, said, “Dance floors should allow people to let go of their inhibitions and express themselves freely, and the presence of phones—especially with the ever-present risk of social media scrutiny—makes that harder for a lot of people.”
Another DJ, Damian Lazarus, in Ibiza, has banned phones completely from his dance floors. He got too fed up with not being able to make eye contact with audience members. He described it as “super disruptive” to his flow. “I’m trying to make a real connection with the dance floor, and every time I look up there are people with their hands in the air filming something that they’re unlikely to ever look at again.”
Lazarus was pleasantly surprised by how positively people responded to his ban, telling BeatPortal that people starting to self-police, urging others to put away their phones. “It was quite something to watch.”
Australian singer Nick Cave made headlines this past fall by telling fans at the start of a show that they could film him for 30 seconds, then “put the f***ing phones away.” In a clip posted to social media, reactions were mixed. Some felt he was unfairly policing the fan experience (“kind of lame,” someone wrote), while others expressed joy and relief: “YES to this, forever,” and “Thank you, I am so tired of seeing the phones.”
Other musicians and comedians, including Jack White, Alicia Keys, Dave Chappelle, Michael Che, John Mulaney, Amy Schumer, Chris Rock, Kevin Hart, the Lumineers, the White Stripes, and others, require attendees to put their smartphones in Yondr pouches. These are small lockable pouches that allow you to keep the phone on your person, but make it inaccessible unless you leave the show space and tap it on a special unlocking device. It takes one second to reopen, so it’s quick and easy, but having to go to a special place to do it should make anyone think twice before checking their phone mid-show.
Yondr’s website says that its pouches allow shows to feel different: “The audience is present. The performer is free. The energy is unparalleled.” Isn’t that what everyone wants?
Cheap Thrill
There’s a reason why phones have been called “experience blockers.” They get in the way of being fully present and they cheapen an overall experience. It is harder to form and preserve a memory of something if you haven’t been intensely focused on it—and you can’t be, if you’re focused on filming it. That’s not how the brain works.
I wish more people would ask themselves how realistic it is that they would actually rewatch a performance on their phone, as opposed to looking up a higher quality recording on YouTube later on. Certain things simply do not need to be filmed. The number of people I see holding up phones during fireworks displays astounds me. With all due respect, if you’re rewatching your own fireworks clips at home, then it might be time to find a new hobby!
Even though filming a performance might be seen as an act of respect toward a performer (“I’m saving it for later!”), I think of it as more disrespectful not to give your full attention to the person who has worked so hard to rehearse for your entertainment in that moment.
Phones devalue the experience for other audience members. Screens are bright and distracting when held up high, and using one erodes any possibility of connection. It makes eye contact nearly impossible, along with that glorious surge of connection that you might feel with someone else who’s also having the time of their life alongside you.
Asking people to put away or lock up their phones during shows is not anti-tech, but pro-experience. It’s about restoring the possibility of enjoying something uninterrupted and becoming fully immersed in a special moment. We need to do more of that—just living in the present, not thinking ahead to how something might look posted online or added to a video reel.
I applaud the DJs and musicians and comedians and show venues that are taking a stance on devices and recognize that they extract more than they contribute to an artistic performance. I’d love to see this extend to church services and certain dining experiences and weddings and other celebratory get-togethers. We need to normalize the concept of phone-free spaces.
Maybe we’ll even reach the point where pulling out a phone is verboten in the same way that lighting up a cigarette would be in many of these situations. It doesn’t stop people from smoking, but there are boundaries in place that recognize the benefits of having a protected space where that doesn’t happen.
Some final food for thought via philosopher Søren Kierkegaard: “The highest and most beautiful things in life are not to be heard about, nor read about, nor seen but, if one will, are to be lived.”
Let’s do more living.
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I love this! (Also, the comment about how, if you're watching your own fireworks videos for fun, you need a new hobby cracked me up.) I recently had the chance to interview Graham Dugoni, the founder of Yondr (the phone pouch company) and he had such interesting insights about all this, too. (It's here if anyone wants to hear what he had to say: https://catherineprice.substack.com/p/meet-yondr-founder-and-ceo-graham ) It's so nice to see more and more people start to wake up to the effects that phones have on shared experiences. Thank you, Katherine!
I completely agree. While I do not much frequent concerts, I visit many museums and I observe the same phenomenon there. When I was at the Louvre three years ago, it was packed to the gills but some galleries were even more congested due to people taking photos of themselves in front of famous works. If you asked what they so admired about them, I suspect most would struggle to provide any coherent or considered response. They are merely engaged by the act of being in the moment and reinforcing their perceived cultural or social relevance. But it is the inability or unwillingness to physically interact which is more troubling. When my girlfriend and I wandered into a gallery of 14/15th c Italian paintings, we had a fascinating conversation with the attendant who told us we were the first that day to actually ask him anything about the works on display in the room. It was 5.30 pm!