Thousands of fans flooded Birmingham city centre on Sunday night as Swedish rock band Ghost rolled into town — but it wasn’t just the music that had everyone buzzing. The band’s strict no-phone policy at the Utilita Arena left concertgoers queuing for ages just to get in.
As part of their Skeletour World Tour, Ghost demanded that all mobile phones be locked away in pouches before entry — and they weren’t messing about. Signs around the arena made it clear: anyone caught using a phone inside would be kicked out. That rule sparked some serious hold-ups, with queues stretching from the arena all the way to the Library of Birmingham in one direction and up the canal toward Edgbaston in the other, reported Birmingham Live.
Fans shared their frustration online, with one concertgoer, Leah Ashleigh, posting on X: “Been here for 40 minutes, never seen anything like it before!”
It got so intense that staff from the Prince of Wales pub on Cambridge Street stepped outside to let people know they could grab beers in plastic cups to take with them while they waited. That’s how long some people were stuck outside — enough time to finish a pint or two.
This phone-locking rule isn’t entirely new to Birmingham. The Yondr pouches — the same ones used at the Ghost gig — have previously been enforced by big names like comedian Chris Rock. But Sunday’s queues were something else.
Ghost’s frontman, Tobias Forge, has been vocal about the decision. Speaking to Loudwire, he explained that the band first tried the idea in Los Angeles and loved the result.
“The face value of not seeing phones was literally like time travel,” he said. “I’m not talking about like back to the ’80s, I’m talking about maybe 10 years back in time when people were generally not filming as much… If you’re playing in front of 10,000 people, 8,000 people are holding a phone. And we just said, ‘I wish it was like this all the time.’”
To make sure no one missed out due to the entry delays, Ghost pushed their start time back by 30 minutes, finally hitting the stage at 8:30 pm instead of the planned 8 pm.
Now, with the Birmingham gig behind them, the Skeletour rolls on to Europe before heading across the Atlantic to North America. But fans here won’t forget the night they queued for rock — and for silence.
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