The Last Dinner Party: Lincoln venue apologises to male gig attendees after reports they were targeted by security

The Engine Shed has issued a statement after reports of fans being harassed by staff at the entry to the gig on Saturday night (September 28), which was eventually cancelled by the band due to illness. One gig-goer wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that he had been “funnelled into a dark corner with other men” upon entering the gig and was later “told I might be a pervert cus [sic] I’m alone and then taken into a room alone with a security guard where I was interrogated and searched.”

Another fan said: “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.”

In a statement, The Engine Shed said that venue management had made an “ad-hoc change to our policy” after reports of “incidents” at previous gigs held by The Last Dinner Party. Bosses said: “We pride ourselves on and are committed to operating a safe, secure, inclusive, and welcoming venue for all our guests.

“We are aware of reports of social media that the entry procedure utilised at The Last Dinner Party on September 28th fell far short of our venue entry policy, which requires all attendees to be treated equally and be subject to the same entry requirements. We have urgently carried out a preliminary investigation today, which indicates that after information was provided to our security team about incidents at a previous The Last Dinner Party gig, the venue management made an ad-hoc change to our policy.

“Although the policy was changed with the right intentions, this change resulted in the unacceptable treatment of some guests, and The Engine Shed would like to fully apologise to anyone affected.”

In a statement shared by The Last Dinner Party, who have previously spoke out about making their live shows “a safe space for especially for women, non-binary people, queer people”, the band said: “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.

“We want to make it very clear that those policies 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.

The band added: “Our shows are intended to be safe, welcoming spaces for everyone, which is something we deeply care about. Seeing inclusivity embraced by our fanbase is one of the best parts of performing live. The venue has since apologised, and assured us that measured are being taken to prevent this from happening again at future shows.

“Everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend our shows. We are appalled and disappointed that anyone was made to feel otherwise.”