Iron Maiden Tell Fans To 'Put Your Phones Away' Ahead Of Tour

Iron Maiden are telling fans to put their phones away ahead of their Run For Your Lives 2025-2026 World Tour.

In a new notice posted to the band’s website, “Put away your phones and get ready to Run For Your Lives!” the band urged fans not to “excessively film the concerts on their phones or tablets.”

The band’s longtime manager, Rod Smallwood, added that excessive phone use “diminishes enjoyment” of live shows, “particularly for the band”, as they perform for fans. Smallwood also stated that the “phone obsession” has gotten out of hand and is “unnecessarily distracting” to the band.

Asking fans to be in the moment, here’s what Smallwood had to say:

We really want fans to enjoy the shows first-hand, rather than on their small screens. The amount of phone use nowadays diminishes enjoyment, particularly for the band who are on stage looking out at rows of phones, but also for other concertgoers.

We feel that the passion and involvement of our fans at shows really makes them special, but the phone obsession has now got so out of hand that it has become unnecessarily distracting especially to the band. I hope fans understand this and will be sensible in severely limiting the use of their phone cameras out of respect for the band and their fellow fans.

We would very much like you to be “in the moment” instead and be fully actively involved to enjoy each and every one of these classic songs in the spirit and manner they were first played. This show isn’t just a celebration of our music; it is, as you will see, also about our years of art, of Eddie and of the many, many worlds of Maiden we have created for you.

So, please respect the band, respect the other fans and have the time of your lives as you join your Maiden family by singing your heart out, rather than getting your phone out!! It’s really not a lot to ask, is it?

The Run For Your Lives tour begins at Budapest Aréna, Hungary, next week (27 May). The tour continues through Europe and the UK from June to August, with more tour dates to be announced.

Iron Maiden made their long-awaited return to Australia in September 2024. Reviewing their show at Perth’s RAC Arena, The Music’s Jake Fitzpatrick wrote: “Despite their long career, this is a band that clearly still has it.

“With a setlist spanning their illustrious career, a production that was nothing short of spectacular, and an electrified crowd, the evening was a testament to why Iron Maiden remains one of the greatest bands in rock history.”