Though she makes a living—partially, at least—by being on camera, Zooey Deschanel would rather fans not take photos at She & Him concerts, thank you very much. The New Girl star and her bandmate M. Ward made the request via signs at this past weekend’s Toronto Urban Roots Fest, saying they’d prefer the audience “enjoy the show they have put together in 3-D.” Entertainment writer Jonathan Dekel tells Gawker that he spoke to the band’s manager at the fest, who told him “Zooey doesn’t want to see phones.”
Still, some people were allowed to take photos, as five pre-screened photographers were given permission to do so in the pit. Gawker speculates (probably wrongly) that the shooters had to pay a fee to do so, but it is pretty standard operating procedure for acts and festivals to pre-screen all photographers. Several years ago at Lollapalooza, for example, anyone hoping to shoot Radiohead had to first sign a contract agreeing not to sell the pictures. In this case, She & Him and the Toronto Fest might have decided to only let banner publications in the pit—like Rolling Stone and the largest local newspaper—rather than have a bunch of looky-loos in there trying to shoot up Deschanel’s skirt.
She & Him joins a number of other artists who have recently tried to curtail camera-happy audiences at their shows. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs recently requested their fans “not watch the show through a screen,” and Prince had anyone taking photos escorted from a recent show in Chicago.