“It’s like some terrible disease”: Bruce Dickinson blasts the use of mobile phone cameras at Iron Maiden shows
Bruce Dickinson has made no secret of his dislike of fans using mobile phones during Iron Maiden shows; the band have even prohibited their use for select upcoming gigs, though not all.
In a new conversation with Appetite For Distortion, the 67-year-old singer goes as far as to say he wishes the “camera on those things had never been invented”, explaining how their widespread use at concerts diminishes the experience for both the artist performing and fans alike.
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“It’s like some terrible disease, that people feel the need to look at the world through this stupid little device. It’s like a failing of humanity,” he explains. “You’re surrendering your senses completely to this little fascist in your hand.”
He goes on: “Put it down, put it in your pocket and look around you. Look at the people, look at the joy, look at the band, feel the emotion, feel the music. What a phone does, it cuts all of that off.
“And so I feel sad. I also feel pissed off, because as a performer, I want to perform for an audience of people that have some emotional feedback – not a bunch of Android twerps.”
Phone use at live shows has been a subject of contentious debate in recent months. One of the most high-profile bands from the rock and metal world to instate phone bans at their shows was Swedish juggernauts Ghost, with frontman Tobias Forge calling gigs with widespread phone use “deeply disconnected”.
In practice, these phone bans are achieved using locking phone pouches – with Yondr being one of the biggest suppliers – to attendees before entering a venue.
While many fans have received such phone bans well, others have voiced their concerns, for example pertaining to the ability to contact people not present at the venue in an emergency, or simply the removal of people’s freedom to choose how to remember the event.
“Many people want to share their experience and why shouldn’t they?” one fan wrote in a Reddit thread discussing Ghost’s phone ban.
As the discussion picks up steam, more and more high-profile artists are considering phone-free shows, with one of the most prominent being pop sensation Sabrina Carpenter. While she hasn’t decided to ban phones at shows yet, she recently revealed she was considering it.
Iron Maiden recently announced a new series of European shows on their Run For Your Lives tour, and while most will allow phones, there will be two phone-free shows in Paris, which will be filmed for an upcoming release.
See a full list of upcoming Iron Maiden dates via the band’s official website.
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