Are Smartphones Ruining Live Music? Lauren Bulla Says Yes.

Words By Lauren Bulla

Ever since I was a teenager, I’ve been dedicated to live music, the biggest expense coming out of minimum-wage padded wallets? 25$ tickets at most, and less than 10$ at least. I was addicted to seeing small and upcoming bands, constantly boasting about it to classmates. Always on a pedestal of self-adoration, I had happily determined that I was one of the first to uncover these myriad alternative rock groups, and singer songwriters. Over the course of my live music fixation, my friend and I had found ourselves in four to (unbelievably) twelve hour queues… over and over. Some could consider this a form of masochism, we called it the only real activity we gave a shit about. Devastated when we did not get barricade spots. We had determined that if we were to enjoy a gig to its fullest potential, it would need to be at the expense of our eardrums… Those of which are undoubtedly paying for it now (should’ve listened to my parents about ear plugs when I had the chance). One thing that also reigned supremely true during this period in our lives, was that we hated arena shows and refused to attend them if we could help it. Though there were instances where the little bands we had been following for years grew big enough to fill out stadiums. In those moments we of course, relented. But this sentiment has followed me throughout my life well into my late twenties now. One thing remains, despite the fixation on barricades having long since dissipated… smartphones are killing live music. 

This has never been more apparent to me than when I attended Lana Del Rey headlined Hyde Park BST in 2023. Let me paint the scene; we arrived late in the day, an issue with our tickets leading us to the box office as we awaited our other friend's arrival. Once inside we immersed ourselves in the variety of amazing live shows as we awaited the main event. Inching our way over to the main stage throughout the day, we stood for another couple hours before Lana appeared. Little did I know, I was in for the shock of my life when I looked up and all I saw were thousands and thousands of phone screens instead of the singer I’d come to see.

We of course did our own damage to our cell phone storage limits in our teenage years as concert goers… but I’d like to think it was never to this degree. For one, we didn’t have the damn storage space. Two, none of the phone cameras were good enough to warrant recording an entire 1-2 hour performance. I feel like we were more in the moment than today’s crowds ever are.

charli xcx live, source: @benjaminburke via TikTok

I cannot claim the true and proper 90s to 00s valour of near smartphone-less existence, or at least a phone-less existence. But come on, I wasn’t allowed a proper phone until I was 16 and it had a slide keyboard for God’s sake. This is not to say that I’m unhappy that smartphones have dramatically advanced in their capacity to take a well-pixelated image but what happened to actually enjoying the show? The comradery between fans, the hugging and jumping and singing along to your favorite songs? What I experienced was jarring at best and show-ruining at worst. I was recently at Roundhouse in Camden to see The Marias. A long awaited show for many reasons. The venue was packed, spirits were high, and people were swaying along to the opener in a joyful yet upbeat capacity. It seemed this same near phone-less experience would continue… boy was I wrong. As soon as the main performer took the stage, the phones were alight and I found myself craning my neck to get a good look… Let me tell you I was one of the taller people there (5’10 in my docs.. Thank you very much). So I can’t imagine the difficulties this behavior presented to my 5'5” and below counterparts. 

It is so frustrating as a concert goer who's been in these spaces for over a decade. Seeing a community that used to be about enjoying live music for all its’ offerings descend into a 20 slide Instagram highlight reel of your latest musical fixation. I know I sound like a weathered and grouchy zillenial about now but come on! I just want to experience the music and performances live without some random phone screen blocking my vision, is that too much to ask? The wildest bit is for all those hours of videos I used to record when I was younger, I probably went back and watched them once… if that. For all the access we have online to playbacks and live recordings, it’s worth considering the benefit we achieve emotionally by living in the moment. The instagram story updates get clicked through anyway… post one and move on, leave some airspace for the rest of us to see through to the stage please. 

Signed a once-pretentious small and independent music lover, now turned a cellphone-at-shows hater, and a forever tried and true, arena-show cynic.