Venue apologises to lone-male gig-goers over 'strange' and 'condescending' treatment

A live music venue in Lincoln has apologised to some gig-goers for "unacceptable treatment" after a number of men arriving alone to watch a The Last Dinner Party show flagged "strange" and "condescending" behaviour.

The Engine Shed - which bills itself as Lincolnshire's largest live music venue - put out a statement on its official Instagram page to say what happened fell "far short of our venue entry policy, which requires all attendees to be treated equally and be subject to the same entry requirements".

Ahead of the gig, which had been scheduled for Saturday night, several men posted on social media saying they had been quizzed on their knowledge of the band before they were given entry.

One fan called Dan wrote on X: "Just arrived at the gig, been funnelled into a dark corner with other men, told I might be a pervert cus I'm alone and then taken into a room alone with a security guard where I was interrogated and searched. Feel sick."

He said he had also been asked what his favourite Last Dinner Party song was by staff.

A man called Paul wrote on X: "I rocked up there tonight at 8.45 on my own, no queue, I got asked how long I had liked them for, and to name my favourite song.

"I thought it was a bit strange and the first time I've ever felt like I'm on mastermind to get into a gig. Now I've read this I understand why now."

He went on: "I just told him, Nothing Matters and said a line of the song and he was fine. It does sound like they were targeting single men, I wonder if there's been trouble at previous gigs."

A second man called Kam Zagi wrote on X: "Same here, I queued for 7 hours to get to barrier as I am 4' 11', got whisked away, searched, asked condescending questions, didn't get to barrier..."

Later, commenting on the Engine Shed's statement, he wrote: "this.is.a.disgrace [sic]. I won't be attending any rescheduled dates based on the way I was treated last night & I am not alone."

The Shed Engine said in its statement it had "urgently" carried out a provisional investigation, saying "ad-hoc changes" had been made to its policy due to information "provided to our security team about incidents at a previous The Last Dinner Party gig".

The venue went on to say the policy was changed "with the right intentions", but that it "resulted in the unacceptable treatment of some guests".

It "fully apologised" to anyone affected and said further training would be given to staff on door entry policy as "an urgent measure... to ensure that this cannot happen again".

The Engine Shed encouraged anyone who felt they had been discriminated against to reach out.

Around half an hour before the Lincoln performance was due to start, the Mercury-nominated band pulled out of the show, "due to a band member unexpectedly falling ill and being unable to perform".

In another statement, the venue apologised to fans for the "last minute" cancellation, adding, "This decision was not taken lightly as the band and the promoter were hopeful that the member would recover from the illness to be able to perform".

The band, who are currently touring the UK and Ireland, cancelled a gig in Cardiff which had been due to take place on Sunday, telling fans on social media it was "cancelled due to illness" and they were "truly sorry".

The Last Dinner Party are next due to perform on Tuesday in Birmingham.

An indie rock band, The Last Dinner Party are made up by Abigail Morris, Lizzie Mayland, Emily Roberts, Georgia Davies and Aurora Nishevci, and formed in 2020 after meeting at university in London.

Last year they won the Brit rising star award, with their debut album - Prelude To Ecstasy - reaching number one in the UK albums chart when it was released in February.

Sky News has contacted the band for comment.