Snap out of it: Manchester club joins growing trend to ban phone cameras
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Nightclub director says they ‘really want the music and experience to be at the forefront’, following in the footsteps of Berlin’s club scene. Over the past decade going to a live event has nearly always been accompanied by a sea of phones capturing every moment of the experience to be shared on social media feeds. But now living in the moment is becoming the new luxury.
Partygoers in Manchester will be asked to cover their smartphone camera with a sticker in a strict rule being enforced by a new nightclub. Amber’s nightclub, which opened on Friday night, is the latest venue to enforce the no-phone rule, clamping down on the endless recording or livestreaming of nights out on mobiles.
Amber’s director Jeremy Abbott said they took the decision to open as a no-phones venue, meaning no photos, no filming and no flash, because they “really want the music and experience to be at the forefront”. ”We believe that having phones away creates a better vibe in the room and makes people feel more present in the moment. We totally understand that people may want to capture footage to remember the night, however we have an in-house content team who will take care of that,” he added.
In Berlin, notorious for its party culture, this is already standard practice. Popularised by the world-renowned Berghain in the German capital, the no-phone policy has been rolled out at a number of underground nightclubs, including London’s FOLD and fabric.
Recently clubgoers in Ibiza were also told to put away their phones and just live in the moment. Pikes in Ibiza, a hedonist’s dream set in a boutique hotel, tested the water with a stickers-on-phones policy on Monday nights in April, but by August the nightspot had extended its ban to seven nights a week. Pikes announced the change on Instagram, writing: “Keep your phones in your pocket and your mind on the music.”.
