How Kate Bush started the “no phones” at concerts movement
Asking if phones should be allowed at gigs is always a fast-track to a thorny conversation. For some, the chance to record a concert is a right they’ve earned by paying for a ticket, as evidenced by the blinding camera flash ever-present in concert crowds. For others, it is a growing annoyance that disturbs the visceral reality of a show shared by hundreds. It’s a continual debate that divides concert-goers, with artists, like Jack White, Bob Dylan, and Mitski all attempting to implement a no-phones policy. But it was Kate Bush that led the charge back in 2014.
If there was anyone who could use their influence to stop fans from touching their phones, it was Bush. Fresh off the back of a 35-year hiatus, fans were naturally willing to do whatever she asked if it meant seeing her live for the first time in decades. Ahead of her landmark 2014 return, Bush posted a plea to fans on her website. “I have a request for all of you who are coming to the shows,” she wrote.
“We have purposefully chosen an intimate theatre setting rather than a large venue or stadium. It would mean a great deal to me if you would please refrain from taking photos or filming during the shows.” She admitted it was a lot to ask, but reiterated that iPhones, iPads and cameras were forbidden, to allow both audience and artist the chance to “share in the experience together”.
The first date of her 2014 Before the Dawn tour remained shrouded in mystery, and although there was reportedly not a phone in sight, fans were quick to reveal the finer details of the performance online. As was widely shared on social media, Bush, barefoot and all in black, performed all the classics, barrelling through ‘Hounds of Love’ and ‘Running Up That Hill’.
In a Guardian round-up of the fan reactions to the no-phone rule, the prevailing theme seemed to be that everyone was respectful of her wishes, and, if anything, that it enhanced the emotional experience. One fan mentioned that although they were sat next to total strangers, without all being glued to their phones recording a rendition of ‘Cloudbusting’, they found themselves holding hands as they took the performance in.
Security guards routinely patrolled the Hammersmith Apollo to ensure the rule was followed, but Bush’s ardent fans largely didn’t resist the rule. “I didn’t see a single phone, everyone was so respectful of it,” recalled another fan. “It felt like it would be like taking your phone out in church.”
However, soon enough videos of the performance started to crop up on Twitter, with Lily Allen even flouting the rule by taking a picture of the stage before Bush emerged. It’s a testament to how insistent some fans are on their right to record, even if the artist themselves ask them not to. In some ways, this urge opens up the question of whether it is simply a natural human desire to preserve the impermanent.
However, in order to preserve impermanence itself, Dylan took Bush’s rule a step further on his recent tour by coming up with a locked bag system whereby mobiles had to be stored away during the performance and could only be opened by staff after the show. With the debate around post-pandemic audience behaviour continuing, the future of these measures is unsure. However, as was proved by the positive response to Bush’s initial response, once fans have enjoyed the connective capacity of a phone-free gig, they’re unlikely to protest it in future.
