Imagine a future where you can look around at the sea of faces in Madison Square Garden and not see a single phone, just 20,000 people living in the moment scream-singing “Espresso.” This is the future Sabrina Carpenter wants.
Rolling Stone published a bunch of quotes from the singer that didn’t make it into her recent cover story, which included Carpenter’s take on phones at concerts. “This will honestly piss off my fans, but absolutely,” she told the magazine when asked if she would consider banning phones at her shows.
“Because I went to see Silk Sonic in Vegas, and they locked my phone,” she continued. “I’ve never had a better experience at a concert. I genuinely felt like I was back in the ’70s — 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.” Listen closely and you can hear someone on Bruno Mars’s team scrambling to get that quote on a poster ASAP.
If you are in the business of making Sabrina Carpenter fan cams, you don’t have to worry about job security just yet. She told the magazine that she grew up “in the age of people having iPhones at shows” and that it “unfortunately feels super normal.” Phones won’t be getting locked up at Carpenter’s shows any time soon, but she’s open to reconsidering in a few decades.
“Depending on how long I want to be touring, and what age I am, girl, take those phones away,” she said. “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.”
Seems like a fair deal to me. In the meantime, maybe put your phone away for at least a few songs during Carpenter’s set. She would love it, and I promise you your Instagram followers do not need to see a video of her performing “Please Please Please” with you giving it your all on the backing vocals. A quick photo will suffice.