Musicians often demand respect from audiences in terms of not talking and not throwing things onstage, for instance - and justifiably so. But respect is a two-way street, which is something that some artists don't always seem to appreciate.
Lana Del Rey hit the headlines last summer for her tardiness at Glastonbury, and now Madonna is being sued by a couple of fans for turning up two hours late for a show in Brooklyn (far from her first offence on this score), prompting this Guardian article by Simon Price.
While I'll confess to being one of those who rolled their eyes at "those crazy litigious Americans", we should call out bad gig etiquette by artists just as we would do for audience members - and, as Price points out, gig culture has changed to the extent that tardiness is probably less tolerated now than in the past.
I waited for more than half an hour for Yeah Yeah Yeahs to pitch up and blast through Fever To Tell at ATP in 2009, and four times as long for Axl Rose and crew to deign to appear onstage at Leeds in 2002. In truth, in both instances the relaxed attitude towards timekeeping was soon forgiven thanks to the performances that unfolded - but Price makes a fair point that paying punters have every right to expect something approaching punctuality.
(As an aside, it's a pleasure to see the Stone Roses' headline set at Reading in 1996 branded "The Worst Gig Of All Time", thanks to "Ian Brown honking tunelessly - even by his foghorn standards". I too am "weirdly glad that I saw it".)
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