1 day ago
Phone-Free Concerts and Clubs Gain Ground Across the US
Many concerts, clubs, and other social events in the United States are asking people not to use their phones.
Some places cover phone cameras, while others lock phones away completely.
The goal is to help people focus on the music and on one another.
Organizers also want to stop people from recording strangers without permission.
Some guests say they find it easier to dance and talk when nobody is looking at a screen.
Eventbrite says phone-free experiences grew by more than 500 percent globally from 2024 to 2025.
Musicians such as Phoebe Bridgers and Harry Styles have held phone-free concerts.
Comedians including John Mulaney and Bill Burr have used similar rules at shows.
Researchers say taking short breaks from phones may improve attention and make social time more enjoyable.
Phone-free experiences increased by more than 500% globally on Eventbrite between 2024 and 2025.
Concerts, clubs, bars, and restaurants in several US cities are restricting or locking away phones and cameras.
Phone-free events have expanded from concerts and comedy shows to camera-free clubbing experiences in cities including Los Angeles and Miami.
Organizers say the rules encourage dancing, conversation, privacy, and freedom from unwanted online videos.
Researchers cited in the reports link reduced phone use with better attention, less overstimulation, and greater enjoyment during social interactions.
- Who
- Concert, club, bar, restaurant, and event organizers, along with attendees and researchers studying phone use.
- What
- A growing trend of phone-free concerts, clubs, parties, bars, restaurants, and comedy shows.
- Where
- Across the United States, including New York, Los Angeles, Miami, North Carolina, Texas, San Francisco, and Philadelphia.
- When
- The trend increased globally between 2024 and 2025; the cited research and survey findings also include data from 2022.
- Why
- Organizers want to encourage in-person interaction, dancing, privacy, and self-expression while reducing unwanted recording and the distractions of constant connectivity.
Key facts
- Eventbrite trend
- Phone-free experiences increased by more than 500% globally between 2024 and 2025.
- Examples of performers
- Phoebe Bridgers, Harry Styles, John Mulaney, and Bill Burr have been cited as examples of performers using phone-free formats.
- Club example
- At New York’s ‘Who’s Dancing?’ party, security taped over attendees’ phone cameras rather than confiscating their devices.
- Phone-use concerns
- More than half of US adults said they use their smartphones too much in a 2022 Gallup survey.
- Reported research effects
- The cited research links reduced phone use with improved attention, less overstimulation, and greater enjoyment during social interactions.
- Privacy concern
- Organizers and attendees said phone-free events can reduce the risk of people being recorded and posted online without their knowledge.
Quotes
Richie Bell
A 23-year-old attendee at the Who’s Dancing? phone-free party in New York.
“There’s nothing more terrifying than thinking that you’re going to a party just to have fun, and then you wake up the next morning and there’s a video of you that has 10 million views that you had no idea about, and now you’re like a GIF reaction on the internet.”
theprint.in
“You can’t scroll Reels because, think about it, on iPhones anyway, if they’re taping the front camera, that’s also the speaker area.”
theprint.in
Sources
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