I’m probably showing my age, but phones at concerts are one of my bugbears. I don’t mind people taking photos or even recording songs with their phone cameras or using them as makeshift lighters in epic ballads, but I bristle every time I see people taking selfies, scrolling through social media, and texting while the bands play. If you’re like me and think more people should be in the moment, you’re going to love This Never Happened, a new series of phone-free electronic dance festivals.
Attendees will have their phones taped upon arrival, ensuring they can live in the moment and appreciate what’s going on around them. Organisers have assembled a line-up worthy of disconnecting including American electronic artist Le Youth, Canadian duo Sultan & Shepard, and Eora/Sydney-born DJ and producer, PARIS. If you don’t capture an event, did it even happen? We’re about to find out.
Tickets for This Never Happened are on sale right now for the following events:
14 July 2023 – 170 Russell, Naarm/Melbourne
15 July 2023 – Metro Theatre, Eora/Sydney
16 July 2023 – Brightside Outdoors, Meeanjin/Brisbane
Image used with permission from the Untitled Group