The Last Dinner Party condemn Lincoln venue following complaints made by male gig-goers
The Last Dinner Party have condemned Lincoln venue, The Engine Shed, after male fans were allegedly discriminated against at the band’s concert on September 28th.
Many male fans who attended the concert alone took to social media to share their complaints at the venue’s security, who they claim took them to a private room upon arriving at The Engine Shed. They were then allegedly heavily searched and made to respond to a series of questions, such as naming their favourite song by The Last Dinner Party, before being allowed into the show.
“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,” one man wrote on X, formally Twitter. He has since locked his account after the post went viral.
In the comments section, one fellow gig-goer shared: “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.”
Following the number of complaints, The Engine Shed apologised for the actions of the security staff and revealed they have now launched an investigation into how events unfolded.
Furthermore, on September 30th, The Last Dinner Party stated: “We’ve been made aware of some security policies implemented at our show in Lincoln on Saturday, that have understandably left many of our fans feeling uncomfortable and disrespected.”
Their message continued: “We want to make it very clear that those polices were created and enforced by the venue at their own discretion, and were not made in consultation with us. They do not reflect our beliefs and would not have been implemented had we been made aware of them in advance. We understand the venue is currently conducting an urgent investigation into the reports surrounding the conditions of entry.”
Additionally, The Last Dinner Party say their “shows are intended to be safe, welcoming spaces for everyone, which is something we deeply care about.”
The Mercury Prize-nominees added: “Everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend our shows. We are appalled and disappointed that anyone was made to feel otherwise. We welcome The Engine Shed’s investigation and further staff training to ensure that this doesn’t happen again.”
The London band also apologised to fans for the concert being cancelled 30 minutes after they were due to begin performing, stating, “The cancellation of our show in Lincoln was due to a sudden illness within the band that we had obviously not foreseen, we apologise to all of you that were in attendance. Thanks again for all your support. It means more than you’ll ever know”.
Investigation launched following complaints by The Last Dinner Party fans
On September 29th, The Engine Shed shared a statement online, which began by telling readers, “We pride ourselves and are committed to operating a safe, secure, inclusive and welcoming venue for all our guests.”
“We are aware of reports on social media that the entry procedure utilised at The Last Dinner Party on September 28 fell short of our venue entry policy, which requires all attendees to be treated equally and subject to the same entry requirements,” they continued.
The Lincoln venue then revealed they changed their usual policy for concerts due to “incidents at previous The Last Dinner Party gigs” which led to the establishment’s management team to “an ad-hoc change to our policy”. However, they didn’t diverge more details about these incidents, and it also wasn’t referenced by The Last Dinner Party in their statement.
The Engine Shed continued: “Although this policy was changed with the right intentions, it is clear that this change resulted in the treatment of some guests, which was not acceptable, and The Engine Shed would like to fully apologise to anyone affected.”
Lastly, the venue said that they have launched “an independent investigation that will review all of the reports and will make recommendations on actions to be taken which will be implemented by our Directors. As an urgent measure, we will also be implementing further staff training on our door entry policy to ensure that this cannot happen again.”
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