'May nag-text': Sabrina Carpenter considering the idea of banning cellphones at her concerts
Sabrina Carpenter (Facebook)
Don't look now, but Sabrina Carpenter concerts may be different in the future, as the star has expressed openness to banning phones at her shows.
Sabrina's comments were featured in a recent article from Rolling Stone, which included quotes that were not included in their latest cover story about the singer. One notable revelation from the unpublished quotes was that Carpenter is indeed open to requesting that fans put away their devices during her performances.
“This will honestly p–s off my fans, but absolutely,” she explained, according to an article on Billboard.com.
Sabrina, whose song Manchild is the new No. 1 song in the US, revealed that she was inspired by a Las Vegas show from Silk Sonic, which required her to lock her phone up.
“I’ve never had a better experience at a concert. I genuinely felt like I was back in the 70s — I wasn’t alive. Genuinely felt like I was there. Everyone’s singing, dancing, looking at each other, and laughing. It really, really just felt so beautiful, she said.
“I’ve grown up in the age of people having iPhones at shows,” Sabrina continued. “It unfortunately feels super normal to me. I can’t blame people for wanting to have memories. But depending on how long I want to be touring, and what age I am, girl, take those phones away. You cannot zoom in on my face. Right now, my skin is soft and supple. It’s fine. Do not zoom in on me when I’m 80 years old up there.”
The debate over banning phones at concerts has been ongoing, with artists wanting fans to enjoy the moment while fans wish to capture their concert memories.
In 2015, Jack White urged concertgoers to avoid using phones during his Lazaretto tour. By the time The Raconteurs toured in 2019, attendees were instructed to place their devices in locked Yondr pouches.
“We think you’ll enjoy looking up from your gadgets for a little while and experience music and our shared love of it in person,” a note from the band read at the time.
Other bands, such as Tool and A Perfect Circle, have been noted for asking fans to follow this practice. The latter made headlines for reportedly ejecting concert attendees who violated the request, according to Billboard.com.
“You ever go to a play or a movie?” A Perfect Circle guitarist Billy Howerdel asked in 2018. “If you’ve ever been to a play or a movie, it’s kind of similar: you don’t take out your phone and start filming, and let the people behind you stare into your screen.”
Other bands, such as Tool and A Perfect Circle, have been noted for asking fans to follow this practice. The latter made headlines for reportedly ejecting concert attendees who violated the request, according to Billboard.com.“We really want fans to enjoy the shows first hand, rather than on their small screens,” Smallwood explained.
“The amount of phone use nowadays diminishes enjoyment, particularly for the band who are on stage looking out at rows of phones, but also for other concertgoers,” he added. “We feel that the passion and involvement of our fans at shows really makes them special, but the phone obsession has now got so out of hand that it has become unnecessarily distracting, especially to the band.”