About
The show starts when the screen stops.
CellFree is a phone-free live entertainment company. We work with artists, promoters and venues to make the headline set the encore everyone remembers — and to give the audience something real in return for being present.
Live entertainment runs on atmosphere. The room, the artist, the moment. Phones are quietly eroding all three. A screen held up between songs is a small thing; the room full of screens is the end of what a concert is for.
Pouches solve it, but at a cost no promoter wants to absorb. They're punishing for fans, logistically heavy for venues, and they make the artist look like a villain on social media. So the industry settles for a half-solution — a polite request at the top of the show that everyone quietly ignores.
We think there's a third option. Reward the behaviour. Give fans something the rest of the internet doesn't see for 24 hours. Let the artist participate instead of enforce. The room earns its reward, the artist gets the encore, and nobody's phone is locked in a bag.
That's CellFree. A voluntary, phone-free window during the headline set. Backstage opens when the lights come up.
What we believe
- 01
Presence is a reward.
The audience already paid for the ticket. What they want is the night. Phones turn the audience into the camera crew.
- 02
The artist supplies the voice.
CellFree supplies the structure. Every Backstage window looks like the artist's, not ours. Invisibility is the product.
- 03
Pouches are an admission of failure.
If the only way to get the room back is to lock the phones away, the experience isn't worth preserving. We think there's a better way to earn the audience's attention.
- 04
No feed. No followers. No public profile.
The fan app is a Pass, not a profile. You're there to be in the room, not to post about it. CellFree stays out of the way until the lights come up.
Pilot
Dublin Comedy Festival
Our first design-partner trial runs at the Dublin Comedy Festival. A small group of comedians opt a single headline set into the CellFree window. The audience scans a QR at the door, switches off for the set, and Backstage opens with a video message, the night's setlist, and a tour announcement the rest of the internet doesn't see for 24 hours.
It's not a launch. It's a learning. We're using the pilot to figure out what works and what doesn't, then taking those lessons into the larger trials.
Talk to us.
If you're an artist, promoter or venue running a show that should be remembered — we'd like to hear from you.