'Out of the way!' - out of order

I love music and I really enjoy going to gigs but recently I haven't gone to as many big gigs - mostly as I've got into a lot of brilliant music that I just see in pubs, houses etc and partly as I've been seeing loads and loads of comedy. For whatever reason I hadn't been to the Academy in Newcastle (once Carling, now O2, neither of these brands mattering) for ages. (I think since The Smiths Indeed back in February.

I'm not really a fan of the Academy. I'm against O2 customers not having to queue (it goes against the idea that true fans will turn up hours early and get the best places) and the atmosphere is not generally great (this applies to Newcastle specifically, the Academy in Glasgow is a beautiful building and the atmosphere at Flaming Lips was perfect) and most of the bands on there aren't my sort of thing.

But when I do go (and I used to go a lot) I'm constantly taken aback by the rudeness and aggression of the security staff. They yell. A lot. And I'm not a child; I'm a paying customer (actually, so are the children that are there!) and I expect to be treated with respect.

The atmosphere of being caged in makes people behave like animals. One guy shouted 'out of the way!' as he pushed me out of the way. This doesn't happen anywhere else. It simply isn't right.

To lighten the mood, here's a picutre of the beautiful band: