Phone etiquette during a show
Launch library · evergreen read
A phone held up throughout an entire song blocks the view of everyone standing behind that person, which is easy to forget in the moment but genuinely obvious from a few rows back. A short clip for memory's sake is one thing, filming an entire set is a different and more disruptive habit.
Screen brightness matters just as much as duration in a darkened venue, since a bright phone screen draws the eye far more than most people realise while they are focused entirely on capturing the moment rather than the people around them experiencing it directly and without a screen in between.
Many longtime gig goers now deliberately leave the phone in a pocket for at least part of a show, finding the experience noticeably more immersive without the constant urge to document every single moment as it happens. Trying this even briefly is worth it simply to compare the two experiences honestly.