Well, references to pre-smartphone times of yore are a rather straw man’s argument too — I‘m pretty sure incidence of gun violence and terrorism has increased dramatically lately. Comparing apples to oranges here.

But forget terrorism, I have other arguments — how about medical emergencies? Have you ever tried to get ahold of a member of staff at a big standing-only gig? Unless you are near the front row — it’s really really difficult and slow. Mobile access is much more efficient here.

How about the ability to find your friends in the crowd? Ever been at a festival?

And back to terrorism, members of staff are won’t help here — they are the first target of any attack, and just as likely to panic and run away as the concert goers. Nobody will wait for their phone to be unlocked when they are shot at.

I’m not a big fan of phones at concerts — but I can live with them. All that needs to be done is some educational effort — ‘no flash’ should become a mundane thing that everyone accepts and acts on.

Yondr is a flawed solution employed by lazy venues to deal with lazy concert goers.