Bob Dylan has announced a new tour of the UK and Ireland – and again banned concertgoers from using their mobile phones during his shows.
The 84-year-old singer will play 13 dates this autumn at venues in Dublin, Glasgow and Swansea, as well as Brighton, Leeds and Coventry.
Attendees of Dylan’s Rough and Rowdy Ways tour, which has been on the road since November 2021, are asked to put their electronic devices in a special bag, which is then sealed throughout the concert.
The Yondr pouches close automatically inside the venue and later unlock in the concourse.
The singer imposed a similar no-phones rule during his UK shows last year, which included performances at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
Tickets for the new series of concerts will go on sale on Friday July 18 at 10am.
Dylan, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2016, is one of the most acclaimed songwriters of all time and a 10-time Grammy Award winner.
He has also had six UK top 10 singles and nine UK number one albums.
However, there has been a renewed surge in interest in him following last year’s release of the highly acclaimed biopic, A Complete Unknown, starring Timothee Chalamet.
The film received several Oscar nominations, including for best film and best actor for Chalamet’s portrayal of the singer. It followed the story of Dylan’s early career and infamous decision to “go electric” in the mid-1960s.
Dylan is among several musicians and comedians to introduce restrictions on mobile phones at their performances in recent years.
Madonna and Jack White have also called for a limited or restricted use of devices during concerts.
Adele, the popular British singer, previously called out a fan she spotted recording her during a gig, saying: “I’m really here in real life, you can enjoy it in real life rather than through your camera.”
Sabrina Carpenter, the American pop star, also recently suggested she would consider similar restrictions at her live shows, telling Rolling Stone that she would “absolutely” ban them at some point in future.
She told the magazine: “Because I went to see Silk Sonic in Vegas, and they locked my phone. I’ve never had a better experience at a concert.
“I genuinely felt like I was back in the Seventies – 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.”
The Espresso singer added: “I’ve grown up in the age of people having iPhones at shows. It unfortunately feels super normal to me.
“I can’t blame people for wanting to have memories. But depending on how long I want to be touring, and what age I am, girl, take those phones away.”