Ghost’s Anti-Cellphone Policy Blamed for 1.5 Hour Long Lines at Recent Show
If the old saying goes “the road to hell is paved with good intentions,” then the same can be said about the no-cellphones policy that Ghost‘s implementing on their current ‘Skeletour’ run of shows. Tobias Forge has said on record that the policy was to improve the concert-going experience, but fans trying to get into last night’s show in Birmingham, U.K. were stuck in hour and a half lines just to get in as a result.
According to multiple people waiting outside the Utilita Arena last night, people waited in line for 90 minutes or more just to get past security and into the venue. And a lot of the hang up, people said, was a direct result of the phone ban.
For those that aren’t aware, Ghost is requiring that all attendees at each of their concerts lock up their cellphones in Yondr pouches, provided by the venue. Those pouches are then given back to the patron with the phone securely kept inside it. Then, the only way to gain access to your phone is to leave the show.
No one with either Ghost nor Utilita Arena have issued a statement as to why people were forced to stand in line for so long.
As for why Ghost is banning phones from their shows in the first place, the band’s mastermind Tobias Forge said in a recent interview that it was all about ensuring that the crowd remains engaged with the show and not whatever’s happening on their devices.
“I really wanna underline that the ban has nothing to do with, let’s say, copyright control. It’s not that we wanna sit on all the material and we don’t want anybody to monetize [Ghost videos]; it has nothing to do with that.
“Rite Here Rite Now, the film, the essence of messaging in that film was exactly that, but also I, but us collectively, working, making that film… We filmed two shows in L.A. in front of audiences where they had to put their phones into pockets. You don’t give it away. You have your phone; you don’t have to worry about that. If you need to call, you can go out. If you need to take a photo, you can take a photo of yourself out in the lobby; that’s fine.
“But what ended up happening was that we had such an engaged crowd that seemed joyous in a way that… I had to go back years and in time since I last saw a fully engaged crowd where everybody’s actually watching [the show]. They don’t have to watch me, but they’re watching the band.”
He later continued, saying that he didn’t “wanna turn this into an ageist thing,” stating that it was all about just enhancing the show’s experience.
“Some of the best shows I’ve ever been to, I have maybe not even seen a picture from that because they all live here [in my head]. They live in my core. That’s the memory I have of that.
“And that is an experience I wish for… Obviously, the part of our crowd that are older and more aware, maybe this becomes a little bit nostalgic then. But I really believe that the younger portion of our crowd will, as they did in L.A., come out saying, like, ‘That was not only a great concert; that was also an overwhelming experience.’ Because I do believe that you will feel that.”
