The Last Dinner Party: Venue apologises to lone-male gig-goers over ‘strange’ and ‘condescending’ treatment
A live music venue in Lincoln has apologised to some gig-goers for “unacceptable treatment” after a number of men arriving alone to watch a The Last Dinner Party show flagged “strange” and “condescending” behaviour.
The Engine Shed – which bills itself as Lincolnshire‘s largest live music venue – put out a statement on its official Instagram page to say what happened fell “far short of our venue entry policy, which requires all attendees to be treated equally and be subject to the same entry requirements”.
Ahead of the gig, which had been scheduled for Saturday night, several men posted on social media saying they had been quizzed on their knowledge of the band before they were given entry.
The Last Dinner Party at the Brit Awards 2024
One fan called Dan wrote on X: “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.”
He said he had also been asked what his favourite Last Dinner Party song was by staff.
A man called Paul wrote on X: “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.”
The Last Dinner Party At Reading Festival.
Pic: Cover Images/AP
He went on: “I just told him, Nothing Matters and said a line of the song and he was fine. It does sound like they were targeting single men, I wonder if there’s been trouble at previous gigs.”
A second man called Kam Zagi wrote on X: “Same here, I queued for 7 hours to get to barrier as I am 4′ 11′, got whisked away, searched, asked condescending questions, didn’t get to barrier…”
Later, commenting on the Engine Shed’s statement, he wrote: “this.is.a.disgrace [sic]. I won’t be attending any rescheduled dates based on the way I was treated last night & I am not alone.”
The Shed Engine said in its statement it had “urgently” carried out a provisional investigation, saying “ad-hoc changes” had been made to its policy due to information “provided to our security team about incidents at a previous The Last Dinner Party gig”.
The venue went on to say the policy was changed “with the right intentions”, but that it “resulted in the unacceptable treatment of some guests”.
It “fully apologised” to anyone affected and said further training would be given to staff on door entry policy as “an urgent measure… to ensure that this cannot happen again”.
The Engine Shed encouraged anyone who felt they had been discriminated against to reach out.
Around half an hour before the Lincoln performance was due to start, the Mercury-nominated band pulled out of the show, “due to a band member unexpectedly falling ill and being unable to perform”.
In another statement, the venue apologised to fans for the “last minute” cancellation, adding, “This decision was not taken lightly as the band and the promoter were hopeful that the member would recover from the illness to be able to perform”.
The band, who are currently touring the UK and Ireland, cancelled a gig in Cardiff which had been due to take place on Sunday, telling fans on social media it was “cancelled due to illness” and they were “truly sorry”.
The Last Dinner Party are next due to perform on Tuesday in Birmingham.
The Last Dinner Party performing at Leeds Festival 2024. Pic: PA
An indie rock band, The Last Dinner Party are made up by Abigail Morris, Lizzie Mayland, Emily Roberts, Georgia Davies and Aurora Nishevci, and formed in 2020 after meeting at university in London.
Last year they won the Brit rising star award, with their debut album – Prelude To Ecstasy – reaching number one in the UK albums chart when it was released in February.
Sky News has contacted the band for comment.
Eddie Murphy has told Sky News he doesn’t ever expect to win awards – but will happily accept an honorary Oscar when he’s 90.
Murphy is one of the biggest stars in comedy after starting out on Saturday Night Live (SNL) in 1980 and starring in a number of big franchises from Beverly Hills Cop to Shrek.
His latest project is heist comedy The Pickup, centred on two security van drivers. Keke Palmer and Pete Davidson star alongside him.
Pete Davidson, Eddie Murphy and Keke Palmer in The Pickup. Pic: Amazon MGM Studios
Murphy says award recognition was never something that shaped the projects he chose.
“The movies are timeless, and they’re special, so for years and years those movies play and the movies have commercial success.
“So you make a lot of money and people love it, so you don’t even think about ‘I didn’t win a trophy!’ The response from the people and that the movie has legs, that’s the trophy.
“You know what I’ve earned over these years? One day, they’ll give me one of those honorary Oscars. When I’m really old. And I’ll say thank you so much for this wonderful honour. I’ll be old like that and I’ll have no teeth. I’m cool with getting my honorary Oscar when I’m 90.”
Murphy, 64, has only been nominated once – for Dreamgirls in 2007, when Alan Arkin won the best supporting actor Oscar for Little Miss Sunshine.
Murphy’s co-star Palmer says she considers Murphy an icon in the industry, and The Nutty Professor was a true display of his artistry.
Eddie Murphy as Sherman Klump in The Nutty Professor. Pic: Reuters
“I feel like recognition and [being] underrated and all this stuff, it annoys me a little bit because I think impact is really the greatest thing, like how people were moved by your work, which can’t really be measured by an award or really anything,” Palmer says.
“It’s very hard to make people laugh, and so when I think about it like The Nutty Professor, Eddie was doing everything, and I swear that the family members were real people.
“He didn’t camp it to the point where they weren’t realistic. His roles had integrity, even when he was in full costume. And I do think that’s something that should change in our industry. Comedy, it should be looked at just as prestigious as when you see somebody cry, because it’s that hard to make somebody laugh.”
Eddie Murphy and Pete Davidson in The Pickup. Pic: Amazon MGM Studios
Recalling his time on the 90s comedy, Murphy says he’s still in disbelief of what they achieved in making the film with him playing seven characters – Professor Sherman Klump, Buddy Love, Lance Perkins, Young Papa Klump, Granny Klump, Ernie Klump and Mama Klump.
“You can only shoot one character a day. And the rest of the time you’re shooting, I’m talking to tennis balls where the people were sitting.
“So to this day when I watch it, I’m like, wow, that’s a trip. But we were able to mix all that stuff up and different voices and make it feel so that you don’t even feel like when you’re watching it, someone have to tell you, hey, you know, those are all one person.”
The film won best makeup at the 1997 Academy Awards.
Security guards buddy comedy
Palmer says their new project, The Pickup, is responsible for one of the most memorable moments of her life when she mistook Murphy’s acting for real praise.
“First of all, Eddie gives me this big speech before I do the monologue, where he’s like, ‘this is not playing around. This is a pivotal point in the movie’.
“I’m crying in the scene, and then it comes to the end, and Eddie’s [clapping] like, and I’m literally like, ‘oh my gosh, thank you so much’. And he’s like, ‘I’m acting’. When I tell you, it was so crazy, yeah. That’s like one of my most memorable moments in life.”
Keke Palmer and Pete Davidson star in The Pickup
Davidson is excited to see how the UK puts its own stamp on SNL, the show where both he and Murphy got their start on-screen.
“It’s a smart idea to have SNL over there because it’s not that it’s a different brand of comedy, but it is a little bit. A lot of the biggest stuff that’s in the States is stuff that we stole from you guys, like The Office or literally anything Ricky Gervais does.
“This is the first time I’ve ever heard anything American going to the UK, so I think it’s great. I think it’s great to have two opposite sorts of takes on things, but both be funny. That just shows you how broad comedy can be, you know?
The Pickup is out on Prime Video now.
Dean Cain has been branded the “worst superman ever” as he announced he will join the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) “ASAP”.
The 59-year-old, who was cast as Superman in the TV series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, announced he had joined the team amid the federal agency’s unprecedented immigration raids.
He told Fox News on Wednesday his recruitment video on Instagram had gone viral and since then, “I have spoken with some of the officials over at ICE and I will be sworn in as an ICE agent ASAP”.
“You can defend your homeland and get great benefits,” he said in the Instagram post where he appealed for his followers to join ICE.
Speaking with the Superman theme song in the background, he said “hundreds of thousands of criminals” had been arrested since US President Donald Trump took office.
He then told his followers they would get a series of benefits if they joined ICE, including a $50,000 (£37,407) signing bonus and student loan repayment.
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“If you want to help save America ICE is arresting the worst of the worst and removing them from America’s streets,” he said, before adding: “I voted for that.”
ICE agents are under pressure from the White House to boost their deportation numbers in line with Mr Trump’s campaign promise to crack down on illegal immigration.
Cain’s post on Instagram received some backlash, with one user commenting: “Worst superman ever”.
Another said: “Shame on you Dean – that’s the most un-Superman thing you could possibly advocate.”
One fan turned against him and said: “Until I saw this I was such a fan. What a sad human being you must be.”
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