Bruce Dickinson explains why he doesn’t like smartphones at shows

The revolution brought by smartphones can be seen in almost every aspect of our lives today, since we have a powerful computer in our hands at all times. When Iron Maiden began their career 50 years ago, it was not easy for fans to take a picture or film a concert, but now all you have to do is pull a phone out of your pocket. That has completely changed the concert experience. Until the 2000s, people would hold up their lighters during songs, but now it is a sea of smartphones. Many musicians from the older generation, including Bruce Dickinson, dislike how phones weaken the connection between the band and the audience, and they encourage fans to stop using them during Maiden shows.

The vocalist explained in an interview with Appetite for Distortion why he doesn’t like to see people using their phones during the shows.

Bruce Dickinson explains why he doesn’t like smartphones at shows

“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.”

“Put it down, put it in your pocket, and look around you. Look at the people, look at the joy, look at the band, feel the emotion, feel the music. What a phone does, it cuts all of that off. And so I feel sad. 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,” Bruce Dickinson said.

Iron Maiden already instructed their fans during their 2025 tour not to use phones during the shows. According to their manager Rod Smallwood, this policy will continue during their 2026 dates. “Finally it was really special to see that the vast majority of our fans appreciated and respected our request to severely limit their use of phones at our concerts, ideally just keeping it in their pockets the whole time, especially in those standing areas in front of the stage. There were exceptions in a couple of places sadly but overall our fans’ understanding and cooperation made a colossal difference to the atmosphere of every show and increased the enjoyment enormously for the band and fans alike.”

He continued:

“While we encourage our fans to follow this again at all our shows in 2026, in Paris specifically, we will be working with Yondr the company that creates phone free spaces where fans are given a secure locked pouch which allows you to keep your phone on you at all times. They will facilitate this process ultimately for the benefit of you, our wonderful fans and I am sure that, like all of us, you do not want to watch the resulting film seeing banks of phone screens in the shot. Therefore, to help our film crew, we will make the huge floor at La Défense completely Yondr phone free so we can ensure the show – and of course all of you in the crowd – look as phenomenal as possible on camera!”

“In the rest of the venue we are requesting that fans once again keep their phones in their pockets and enjoy the show ‘in the moment’, rather than raise their phone in the air trying to film sections and thus inconveniencing those around them. So if a so-called fan near you thinks they are special and filming what they selfishly want please just ask them, very politely of course, to put their phone somewhere the sun doesn’t shine!” Rod Smallwood said in a statement about the next tour dates.