Screaming your heart out at a concert as if nobody is watching is a visceral experience connecting fans across different genres. At Phoebe Bridgers’ The Lost Tour, fans were able to be fully immersed in the concert without a single phone in sight.
To many, attending a concert without a phone can seem like an impossible task. In an age where all experiences are expected to be recorded and digitally immortalized, people feel obliged to capture memories by filming concerts. Consequently, it has become normalized to watch a concert through your screen instead of putting it away to enjoy the live performance.
The Lost Tour opened on September 14th in Indiana and runs until December 12th, with its final stop in Sweden. Bridgers’ latest studio album Lost Weekend explores her personal grief after the death of her father, leading her to advocate for a strict phone-free concert policy to protect her vulnerability on stage and overall improve the fan experience.
“A lot of people take videos of concerts and never watch them because they like the adrenaline rush. I think restricting phones makes the concert feel more peaceful and allows you to be in the moment. I think it’s genius,” a fan named Kelsey explained.
To achieve this goal, Bridgers implemented Yondr pouches at every stop of her tour, requiring fans to lock away any electronic devices such as their phones and smartwatches in said pouches. Fans are in possession of their Yondr pouch for the entirety of the concert and are eventually unlocked in specialized areas where staff members are placed throughout each venue.
“I have complete withdrawal anxiety, but it’s also kind of liberating. I’m loathing what I’m missing by not being on my phone, but this is what Phoebe wants,” Janine, a fan who wished to be referred to by her first name, said.
The Lost Tour visited TD Garden on October 6th and 7th for two transformative sold-out performances. On opening night, the energy radiating off of fans as they lined up along Causeway Street awaiting entrance to the show was palpable; fans took these last moments of phone freedom to capture pictures and videos of their outfits.
Fans were either clad in hues of aquamarine and alien onesies to follow the celestial theme of the new album, or having paid homage to Bridgers’ previous albums by wearing an infamous skeleton onesie or navy and maroon color combinations.
After scanning their tickets, fans were efficiently led through the Yondr locking stations to part with their screens for the rest of the evening. Inside the venue, fans flocked to the merch and concession stands to complete their purchases before opener Alex G began.
Instead of scrolling pre-show, fans engaged in conversations, sketched the arena, played card games, and ate to pass the time.
“I keep wanting to text my family and friends, but instead I’m talking to new people. This wouldn’t happen if we had our phones,” a fan named Emma noted.
Alex G put on an electrifying performance that displayed the skill of his band on the B stage, a circular platform at the end of the floor section with a strobe-light moon. The main stage housed a large white dome that would be transformed into different sets throughout the show, turning into a UFO, a moon, and a screen for cosmic projections.
Instead of the tradition of swaying along to melancholic songs, waving one’s phone flashlight, many fans brought back the original audience tradition of waving lighters. Without phones blocking the view of the stage, moments such as these displayed the intimacy and connection between the artist and the audience, no matter where one was sitting in the arena.
During Bridgers’ last song, “Scott Street”, the entire arena waved their arms in synchrony to the lyrics “Anyway, don’t be a stranger.” After an evening of crying, dancing, and singing side-by-side, the crowd felt connected to each other rather than connected to their screens.
Senior Isabella Pizziferri illustrated the connection built within the audience, explaining how “the entire concert showed that we really are a community; when the lights went on in the arena, you could see everyone together and singing, and it was really heartwarming.”
While technology can be useful in capturing memories to look back on in the future, fans expressed that they believed they would remember the concert more than they would have if it was captured on video.
Negatives of the phone-free experience include payment accessibility for fans, as concert venues normally don’t accept cash and, due to the popularity of tap-to-pay, fans have been forgetting to bring a physical card.
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