"It's what music should be." Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson on phone-free shows

Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson says the vibe at a rock show when there are no mobile phones in sight is "what music should be."

Maiden urged fans to keep their phones in their pockets on their recent Run For Your Lives tour. While they didn't enforce an all-out ban, the band's manager Ron Smallwood took aim at fans who ignored the request, wishing them "nothing but a very sore arm!"

Asked for his feelings about people using phones at gigs, Dickinson says he loves the no-phone approach employed with huge success by Ghost.

He tells Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk (transcribed by Blabbermouth): "I can only speak from my personal point of view. I've witnessed the Ghost thing now two or three times, and it is a totally different experience.

"People talk to each other. They behave like human beings with each other. They're not jumping over seats, trying to take selfies and stuff like that. They're concentrating on each other and the joy of being with a band and the experience and in the moment.

"It's what music should be, bringing people together, not having somebody just like focused on 'me and my little narcissistic two-inch screen.'

"And also, they don't take the phone off you. You keep it with you in your little baggie."

Despite being a fan of Ghost mainman Tobias Forge's stance, Dickinson thinks it could become problematic in certain circumstances.

He adds: "I think there are, in truth, some practical limitations to it. It's relatively easy to do in an arena setting, because people all come in and out through entrances and exits and things like that.

"Where it gets difficult is when you start going to football stadiums and things like that. You go to a festival. As soon as you end up in a festival situation, how are you gonna police that? You can't. So there are, I think, some limitations on it.

"Everybody knows if you go to see a Ghost show, you put your phone in a baggie at the moment. So that's clear from the get-go. But I think that as far as Maiden is concerned, we didn't advance that upfront with people. So it's not fair if people have bought a ticket expecting they're gonna be able to use their phones.

"The other thing as well is we're doing a lot of outdoor shows now. So that kind of knocks that whole thing into touch. So our thing was a polite request."