Should artists follow Harry Styles’ lead and ban phones at gigs?

‘Phones ruined concerts’ is a common complaint most frequent gig goers will have heard, so you’d think a phone-free show would be met with huge applause. However, when rumours emerged that Harry Styles might be banning phones at his one-night-only Manchester gig, some fans were up in arms.

Some called it a ‘losing battle’ while one man said he’d ‘given up going to concerts’ entirely, sick of watching the gig through a stranger’s screen. Others felt incredibly strongly that if they were coughing up hundreds to go to a gig, they were absolutely going to ‘record their own experiences’.

Those who attended Harry Styles' One Night Only concert in Manchester put their phones in thin plastic bags, still accessible but the camera was obscured – far less disastrous than having to lock your phone away.

Hopefully, fans attending the gig realised maybe it’s not so awful to put your phone away for an hour and disco with other dedicated fans. Ultimately, unless you need a device on you for medical reasons, maybe the real plea isn’t for phone-free, it’s just for a little bit of self-control.

Let’s be honest, are you really going to re-watch it, or is it just clogging up your phone storage? Should artists follow Harry Styles’ lead and ban phones at gigs?