As Iron Maiden ready themselves to climb aboard Ed Force One and launch their Run for Your Lives World Tour, manager Rod Smallwood has asked fans to put their phones away.
The veteran British heavy metal outfit will launch their upcoming tour in Budapest, Hungary on May 27, with the shows also kicking off their 50th anniversary celebrations. With the massive milestone in their back pocket, and the tour also set to see the debut of drummer Simon Dawson, there’s a lot worth documenting.
However, Smallwood has taken to the band’s website to share a post titled “Put away your phones and get ready to Run For Your Lives!” in which he urges fans to experience the shows “in the moment” rather than on smaller screens at a later date.
“We really want fans to enjoy the shows first hand, rather than on their small screens,” Smallwood wrote. “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.”
Iron Maiden aren’t the first band to ask fans to put their phones back in their pockets. 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, have also employed a similar approach, requesting phones stay off their phones until their final performance. Guitarist Adam Jones explained in 2022 that while part of the reason was due to the loss of connection between band and fan, another factor was the limited technological know-how of some concertgoers.
“I think one of the problems is you get a lot of lights because people don’t know how to use their cameras correctly, which makes it very blinding onstage,” Jones explained.
As Smallwood added on Iron Maiden’s website, much of the urging for fans to stow their phones comes out of a plea for respect, for both the larger experience and the band themselves.
“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,” he adds. “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?”
The upcoming Run for Your Lives World Tour will be Iron Maiden’s first performances since wrapping their The Future Past Tour in São Paulo, Brazil in December. That tour was the last to feature drummer Nicko McBrain, who announced his “decision to take a step back from the grind of the extensive touring lifestyle.”
