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Concerts without mobile phones? Bob Dylan takes another step in his battle against the use of phones during his tour of Spain

2023-06-07T10:42:47.083Z

Highlights: Bob Dylan has long been fighting against the use of phones in his concerts. Now, the company Yondr will be responsible for sealing them in a case before the concert. The case allows mobile signals to pass, so you can feel any vibration when a message arrives or there is a call. Anyone who needs access to the phone during the show can leave the venue, unlock the device and use it in an area enabled for the occasion. It is a procedure very similar to that applied to smokers when non-smoking areas are enabled.


The musician, who starts this Wednesday a series of 12 performances in the country, hires the services of a leading company in creating spaces without devices and that in Spain already used Bono, Jack White or Quentin Tarantino


Mobile phones stored in cases sealed with an electronic lock and that cannot be opened to shoot photos, record videos or send messages during the concert. Bob Dylan goes further in his crusade against mobile phones in his performances. Against the current times, in which live music is almost not understood without the use of phones to record songs and capture moments of all kinds, the American musician proposes a tighter control over the devices in his new world tour, which now arrives in Spain and will pass through eight cities, starting this Wednesday in Madrid. Measures like this have already been seen in Spain in performances by Bono, singer of U2, and Jack White, but never before in a tour as long as Dylan's, which includes up to 12 performances in three weeks.

Dylan, just turned 82 and who returns to play in Spain after his last step in 2018, has long been fighting against the use of phones in his concerts. Until now, the organizers of Dylan's performances announced that mobile phones could not be used during the show and security guards monitored that the regulations were complied with. For many years, it was normal to see the guards get up between songs and force to turn off the devices that were in recording mode. They threatened to requisition them and, sometimes, in the face of the most recidivists, they complied: they removed them and forced the spectators to leave the pavilion or the theater. Now, however, the company Yondr, a specialist in creating spaces without mobile phones and which has been working with Dylan since last spring, will be responsible for sealing them in a case before the concert. It is one more step to avoid them at all costs while the music plays.

"A performance without a phone is unique and powerful, in large part because everyone participates in a collective experience. Guests maintain possession of their devices and can always consult them in our phone use area, located in a space enabled in the enclosure. If someone does not comply with the rules or does not use the areas of use of the phone, they are asked to leave the space enabled for the performance, "explains Sarah Leader, spokeswoman for the company Yondr. The case allows mobile signals to pass, so you can feel any vibration when a message arrives or there is a call. Anyone who needs access to the phone during the show can leave the venue, unlock the device and use it in an area enabled for the occasion. It is a procedure very similar to that applied to smokers when non-smoking areas are enabled.

The promoter of Bob Dylan's tour of Spain is Riff Music, which is also behind tours such as that of Manuel Carrasco, the Spanish artist with the most audience in concerts in Spain. Chris Ortiz is a promoter of Riff Music and says that it is the first time they will do performances "without mobiles". "As a promoter and music fan I really like the idea. I understand that people want to take pictures at concerts, but every time the number of mobiles is greater and they record longer. I find it incredible when I see people who have queued for hours, even days, and then throw the whole concert recording with their mobile and looking at the screens of their mobiles instead of the concert. In a seated space and in theaters I think it will end up being the future because it is annoying to have someone in front recording. The truth is that the more I think about it, the more I like it, not only for concerts but for bars, cinemas, restaurants...".

In this way, Dylan, who usually goes against the current, is on the opposite side of the times when artists of all types and ages participate and even promote the use of mobile phones during their performances. Recently, Bruce Springsteen has been seen in Barcelona approaching the public with screens in recording to record moments in the middle of his songs. Or how Rosalía or Beyoncé have even included their own devices recording their choreographies to be seen live and more intimately on the screens of the venue.

Bono, during his performance on November 28 at the Coliseum theater in Madrid, within the tour where he presents his memoir 'Surrender', during which the public's mobiles were disabled. Ross Stewart

Jack White already used Yondr for his shows in Spain. And just a few months ago they did Bono, from U2, who was in Madrid, and Quentin Tarantino, who was in Barcelona. The company reports that, outside the Spanish borders, they work regularly with Jack White himself, Madonna, Bruno Mars, Silk Sonic, Garth Brooks, Maxwell, Raphael Saadiq, Lane 8 and Yasiin Bey, among others. They also do it normally in theaters and at film events. However, its most fertile territory is in comedy shows. Comedians hire their services a lot to prevent the public from sharing their jokes on social networks, since they would sabotage their tours or residencies in theaters. Yondr works with comedians such as Kevin Hart, Dave Chappelle, John Mulaney, Chris Rock, Bill Burry and Amy Schumer. And another side of their business is education. "We've helped teachers and administrators create phone-free classrooms for more than a million students around the world," said the Yondr spokeswoman.

Dylan's crusade against mobile phones goes back a long way. The musician, who does not allow the press to take pictures of his concerts and is reluctant to interviews, already complained at a performance about the use of mobile phones. It happened on April 16, 2019 and it was a resounding moment because Dylan rarely addresses the public. In front of a spectator who was recording while he was singing, Dylan became angry and, when backing up, almost fell when he tripped over a stage monitor. Angry, he picked up the microphone and said, "Take pictures or don't take them. We touch or pose, okay?" He is not the only artist who has been angry during a concert. Andrés Calamaro complained a year ago in his performance at the WiZink in Madrid. Like both, every day there are more musicians who charge against the indiscriminate use of devices.

Dylan's tour begins in Madrid with two concerts, this Wednesday and Thursday, within the programming of the Nights of the Botanist. Both performances have all sold out. The same happens in his two concerts in Barcelona and in Granada. There are still tickets for the appointments of Seville, Alicante, Huesca, Donostia and Logroño. "It will almost certainly be his last tour," says Chris Ortiz of Riff Music. "He turned 82 years old and because of the way he organizes his tours he would not have to return to Spain until 2026 or so. All the people in his inner circle with whom I have dealings see a very difficult return to Spain." If so, it will be impossible, or almost impossible, to record with a photograph or a video a moment of Dylan, one of the greatest musical icons of the twentieth century, a time when there were no mobile phones.

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Source: elparis

All life articles on 2023-06-07

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