Sabrina Carpenter Says She’s Considered Banning Phones at Her Concerts

Sabrina Carpenter concerts could look a little different in the future, with the star revealing she’s open to the idea of banning phones at her shows.

Carpenter’s comments appeared in a recent article from Rolling Stone, who shared quotes that didn’t make it into their recent cover story with the singer. One of the previously-unpublished revelations was that Carpenter indeed open to asking fans to pocket their devices at her gigs.

“This will honestly p–s off my fans, but absolutely,” she explained, noting she was inspired by a Las Vegas show from Silk Sonic which required her to lock her phone up.”

“I’ve never had a better experience at a concert,” Carpenter explained. “I genuinely felt like I was back in the Seventies — wasn’t alive. Genuinely felt like I was there. Everyone’s singing, dancing, looking at each other, and laughing. It really, really just felt so beautiful.”

Notably, Silk Sonic’s 2022 Las Vegas residency even featured Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak crafting a song to underline the lack of devices. “We took your phones away,” they sang. “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.”

“I’ve grown up in the age of people having iPhones at shows,” Carpenter continued. “It unfortunately feels super normal to me. I can’t blame people for wanting to have memories. But depending on how long I want to be touring, and what age I am, girl, take those phones away. You cannot zoom in on my face. Right now, my skin is soft and supple. It’s fine. Do not zoom in on me when I’m 80 years old up there.”

The topic of banning phones at gigs has been a contentious one over the years, with artists wishing for fans to live in the moment, and fans desiring a chance to memorialize their concert experiences.

In 2015, Jack White shared a verbal plea for no phones during his Lazaretto tour, and by the time The Raconteurs toured in 2019, attendees were told to put their devices in locked Yondr pouches.

“We think you’ll enjoy looking up from your gadgets for a little while and experience music and our shared love of it in person,” a note from the band read at the time.

Other acts, such as Tool and A Perfect Circle have been noted for asking fans to observe such a practice, with the latter having made headlines for reportedly ejecting concert attendees who violated the request.

“You ever go to a play or a movie?” A Perfect Circle guitarist Billy Howerdel asked in 2018. “If you’ve ever been to a play or a movie, it’s kind of similar: you don’t take out your phone and start filming, and let the people behind you stare into your screen.”

More recently, Iron Maiden manager Rod Smallwood put out a request to fans to put down their phones during the band’s Run for Your Lives World Tour. “We really want fans to enjoy the shows first hand, rather than on their small screens,” Smallwood explained. 

“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,” he added. “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.”