Last Dinner Party's male fans furious over 'discriminatory' security checks at gig

It was a miserable night for many Last Dinner Party fans after being subjected to an 'interrogation' before entering and then being told the group would not be performing

Male fans heading to see the Last Dinner Party gig claim they faced extensive searches and questioning over their knowledge of the band before being let into the venue.

The indie rockers had been due to perform at The Engine Shed in Lincoln on Saturday night but were forced to pulled out at the last minute after illness within the group. But before the bad news, many of their fans were left livid having reportedly been subjected to 'discriminatory' security checks as they made their way inside.

Fan Kam Zaki, 46, claimed to the BBC that he was pulled aside on the door and was told that if he didn't consent to being searched, he could not go in. He says he was then bombarded with a number of questions about the band while another was "fuming" when the search and questioning finally finished after ten minutes.

"They took everything out of my pockets, they went through my wallet including the coin pouch, they searched my shoes," Mr Zaki told Newsbeat. "They asked many questions like how long have you liked the band? What's your favourite song? How many times have you seen them before?"

The Engine Shed, which is based at The University of Lincoln, has shared a statement on Facebook, say they will investigate as other fans on social media shared similar experiences. The venue said further staff training on its door entry policy will now be provided.

"We pride ourselves on and are committed to operating a safe, secure, inclusive, and welcoming venue for all our guests," a statement read. "We are aware of reports on social media that the entry procedure utilised at The Last Dinner Party on September 28th fell far short of our venue entry policy, which requires all attendees to be treated equally and be subject to the same entry requirements.

"We have urgently carried out a preliminary investigation today, which indicates that after information was provided to our security team about incidents at a previous The Last Dinner Party gig, the venue management team made an ad-hoc change to our policy.

"Although the policy was changed with the right intentions, this change resulted in the unacceptable treatment of some guests, and The Engine Shed would like to fully apologise to anyone affected.

"We have instigated an independent investigation that will review all of the reports and will make recommendations on actions to be taken. These recommendations will be implemented by our Directors. As an urgent measure, we will also be implementing further staff training on our door entry policy to ensure that this cannot happen again."

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