Bruce Dickinson Hates Cellphones, Says Having a Camera Everywhere is Like a “Terrible Disease”
If there’s one thing that’s sure to piss off your average elder rock star, it’s the use of cell phones during performances. Ghost blocks it. Danzig will fight you over it. And if you’re an Iron Maiden fan, Bruce Dickinson will hold some contempt for you over it.
While speaking with the Appetite for Distortion podcast, Dickinson described the ubiquitous smartphone in everyone’s pants as a “little fascist” that’s always demanding your time and attention. One place that it really has become prevalent is the number of phones you can see at any given moment during a show. And while fans think they’re getting a timeless memento in the form of a shoddily shot cellphone video, Dickinson argues that they’re really depriving themselves of the experience as a whole.
“I wish the camera on those things had never been invented. It’s like some terrible disease that people feel the need to look at the world through this stupid little device. It’s like a failure of humanity. You’re surrendering your senses completely to this little fascist in your hand.”
Just like other performers in the past, Dickinson suggests that fans put their phoens away during a show, since he says it cheapens everything they paid hard-earned money to experience. To that end, he called on concert-goers to “put it down, put it in your pocket, and look around you.”
In addition to cheapening the attendee’s experience, Dickinson said cell phones also cause problems for the performers themselves.
“I also feel pissed off, because as a performer, I want to perform for an audience of people that have some emotional feedback, not a bunch of Android twerps.”
Earlier this year, Iron Maiden urged fans to stay off their phones during their ‘Run For Your Lives’ tour. At the time, the request was made by the band’s manager Rod Smallwood that fans put their cellphones away.
“We really want fans to enjoy the shows first hand, rather than on their small screens. The amount of phone use nowadays diminishes enjoyment, particularly for the band who are on stage looking out at rows of phones, but also for other concertgoers. We feel that the passion and involvement of our fans at shows really makes them special, but the phone obsession has now got so out of hand that it has become unnecessarily distracting especially to the band. I hope fans understand this and will be sensible in severely limiting the use of their phone cameras out of respect for the band and their fellow fans.
“We would very much like you to be ‘in the moment’ instead and be fully actively involved to enjoy each and every one of these classic songs in the spirit and manner they were first played. This show isn’t just a celebration of our music; it is, as you will see also about our years of art, of Eddie and of the many, many worlds of Maiden we have created for you.
“So please respect the band, respect the other fans and have the time of your lives as you join your Maiden family by singing your heart out, rather than getting your phone out!! It’s really not a lot to ask is it?”
