Crappy picture I took off Brooklynvegan, but if you look at the left hand side you will see a Nazi seig heiling and at the right bassist Ken Casey seconds before hitting the skinhead with his bass and giving him a beating before, Ken, warning the audience that Nazis were not welcome. This occurred during the second song of the encore. I missed it because I left before the encore. I left before the encore because I have a full time job and need to be up at 5am on weekdays and I go to a lot of concerts. Meaning, on weekdays I have no choice.
Weekends I tend to stay to the end.
I sometimes mention it if I feel if waiting for the encore and sometimes I don't bother. I never write about the encore if I don't see it.
And in four years and 100s upon 100s of sets, this is the first time I missed something that would have changed my review (that I'm aware of.)
But I wish I had mentioned it now and I will try to remember to mention when I leave before encores but it reads so wanky maybe I won't bother. Incidentally, it is your fault entirely. If more of you would read the damn website, I could quit my day job and then unless Coldplay were on stage would wait till the bitter end. I mean, really. Fucking T5 at 11pm on a school nite, I know the two songs coming on, I can't see a damn thing any way (indeed, if I had been there I might well have missed it any way)…
Helen Bach once told me that I go to so many shows I no longer respond like a normal person, and she may well be right. I can judge a concert from the way the set list is managed, from the ebb and flow, from the audience. I've been to so many, not just, but essentially a lot more, since 2009, concerts, I find it hard to be surprised (I love music enough hereby the lack of surprise doesn't ruin it for me). And I've seen a lot of things happen at concerts. Hell, I've seen a man die of a heart attack at a Patti Lupone show.
I know this sounds like excuses and I guess I wanna apologize. Sleep or no sleep I am gonna have to wait till the end from now on.