A COMEDIAN has accused Talking Heads legend David Byrne of excluding disabled people from his sold-out Edinburgh concerts after encouraging dancing in the seated area during the performances.
Phill Jupitus, who is also an actor and poet, said the music star had "effectively shat on a minority" by advising that dancing would be permitted at the Edinburgh Playhouse shows.
Signs at the venue advised audience members that dancing would be allowed, but that people should be respectful of the people around them.
Jupitus said he had been able to watch the first two songs of the theatrical performance before the crowd rose to their feet to dance to hits like And She Was, This Must Be The Place and Slippery People.
On Instagram, Jupitus wrote: "Dear [David Byrne], if you are going to encourage your audience to dance then please don't book seated venues.
"It is a sad fact that there are people at rock gigs who can't stand. So when they see someone they love is touring they get seats. Then at the show the 'artist' says 'You can dance if you want, but do respect the people around you'.
"David Byrne effectively shat on a minority last night. Like he gives a toss anyway. He might as well have said "Hey disabled people in the stalls, suck it!" He needs to make up his mind whether he's doing a theatre show or a rock show.
"Next time play fucking Barrowlands or the Hydro with the seats out. I'd rather have given £270 to a band who needed the money..."
Tickets for the performances were in high demand, with prices from around £135.
Gordon Millar, theatre director for the Edinburgh Playhouse, responded to Jupitus to say the team had heard his "frustration and disappointment".
"We recognise that at gigs, of all sorts, people may want to dance and that this has a negative impact for some.
"We take our responsibilities under the Equality Act very seriously and always consider whether adjustments can be made where audience members with access needs may be placed at a disadvantage. We have explored whether asking audiences to remain seated could be a reasonable adjustment. Unfortunately, this is very difficult to enforce en mass at live concerts, without causing safety concerns.
"We are grateful to Phil for raising this as it points to a model we’re exploring to allocate a portion of seats as seated only, that don’t have seats in front of them, for those for whom this would be beneficial.”
