Remember how Bob Dylan banned phones from his gigs a couple of years back? Well, that rule is still very much in place at his shows and the man behind one prominent Dylan fansite has fallen foul of it, either directly or indirectly.
David Hildebrand, who runs the Daily Dylan site, was kicked out of the man’s show at Glasgow SEC Armadillo on Monday night because he had been circulating photos and videos of Dylan’s current UK tour.
It seems that Hildebrand entered the venue and then was asked to leave by security. Fans at Dylan shows are now asked to switch off their phones and stick them in a Yondr pouch before collecting them at the end of the gig. It’s not clear if Hildebrand complied with this stipulation.
Neither is it clear whether it was the venue that chucked him out, or Dylan’s team. In fact, it seems likely that Hildebrand was ejected due to the circulation of other fans' snapshots and videos on his site, rather than being caught with his own proscribed mobile.
"Last night in Glasgow, Daniel was asked to leave the venue before the show began and was declared an 'unwanted person'" reads a statement shared by the Daily Dylan site.
The statement continues, “we will no longer post any material (photos, videos, audio) from the shows” and says“ we are considering closing the Daily Dylan account entirely, but we need time to process last night’s experience and to make this difficult decision”.
We want to make it clear that we have never taken any photos or videos ourselves that were posted here – even though this was mentioned as a reason by staff. Though we did share material from others, which apparently led to this decision.”
“We are, first and foremost, Bob Dylan fans and want to keep attending his concerts, and the idea of being excluded from future shows is truly devastating.”
At present, the Daily Dylan is offline, though he is clearly still posting on Instagram and Facebook. Like many fan sites, Daily Dylan is not monetised in any way.
Dylan is just one of a number of artists who have adopted a no-phone policy at their gigs in recent years. Others include Jack White, Placebo, Ghost and Tool. In an interview with Rolling Stone earlier this year even Sabriuna Carpenter said she was considering a phone ban, even though she thought it would “piss off” her fans.
