Rightly or wrongly, I can’t stop thinking about that show the other night. I was outraged at first but now I just feel a profound sadness about it which I know seems extreme but that’s how it is.

• I feel really let down by the judgement behind the decision.
• More than anything, I feel as though the time, money and experience of the fans were treated as secondary.
  • People will have taken time off work to attend.
  • People will have travelled.
  • People will have saved up to buy tickets.
  • People will have received tickets as presents.
  • People will have paid for hotels, transport and food.
  • People will have been looking forward to seeing their favourite band, perhaps for the first time.
  • People will have been excited to share a band they love with their friends and family.
• People paid to see the band, not to see them indulge a friend for three songs so said friend could achieve a personal dream or ambition, or whatever the aim was.
• The band members are wealthy, most of the audience will not be. If a wealthy person books tickets to something and it’s not so great, they might feel disappointed but the financial loss isn’t going to really touch them. For many fans, however, attending a show might very well require sacrifices. That should create a responsibility to treat their time and money with respect.
• I have no objection to guest performers but surely a guest occupying that much of a professional show should actually be capable of performing at the level the audience has paid to see.
• She has described herself as a massive fan of the band which makes the lack of preparation particularly difficult for me to understand. A serious fan would surely want to be the best they could be because they love and respect the band, realise it’s an incredible opportunity, don’t want to embarrass the band and understand that it’s a privilege. Instead, the performance appeared underprepared and it felt as though the importance of the audience’s experience had been overlooked.
• I cannot understand why her limitations were not identified beforehand. If concerns were raised, why were they ignored? Who had the final say that this could happen and why was it deemed acceptable for paying customers? Once it became clear that the performance was not working, why was she allowed to remain onstage for three songs?
• Most of all, why was her experience treated as more important than the experience of the paying audience?

I feel disappointed and let down and I wasn’t even there. I can only imagine how it felt for the people who had spent their money, made plans and looked forward to that night. And if she got paid, well, that really would be the icing on the cake.