The infamous selfie sticks are getting a no-go to many UK venues. The venues are banning the sticks as a “health and safety” measure, though we here at DHA would ban them as complete idiocy. I mean, a selfie stick on a gig? Seriously?
Mixmag reported that at least the 02 Academy Brixton, 02 Arena and Wembley Arena will be banning the selfie stick from any future shows. This can mean denial of access to ticket holders found in possession of this dreadful sword of the lone social media warrior.
A noteworthy detail of the whole ordeal is that only the selfie sticks are banned, not selfies per se as they are seen as “a big part of the gig experience” according to the spokesperson of the Wembley SSE Arena. Be it as it may, that hasn’t stopped many of the worlds best clubs from banning photos completely. One well known example of this is of course Berghain, which has always had a strict no-photos policy. Also, the now passed Trouw in Amsterdam asked party goers to keep phone use to a minimum in their house rules. Similar policies are becoming more and more common as venues and audiences alike are becoming tired of the constant glare of iPhones.
In our book, this goes down as a positive policy. After all, clubs and venues exist for the music played inside and enjoying the vibe with the people present, not for enhancing Instagram accounts with selfies from last night. Especially if this enhancing requires a selfie stick.
