Did my comment deserve ridicule?

[Gladness]

Have name changed as anyone in the group I posted in will know it’s me if they see this.

Basically a band I love have just reunited and the fans have been eagerly awaiting tour dates. One date has just been announced in London. I posted in the comments that I was excited for the gig but hoping they put on another show maybe in central London.

The comment received a mixture of laughing and angry faces and endless comments such as “Typical Londoner” and “What about people who live miles away from London!” Etc

I replied saying I was not suggesting that all dates should be in London, what I meant was if there was a gig in central London it would be easier for people from all over the UK to get to. I continued getting harassed over it so I deleted the comment but some arsehole screenshot it and reposted it so the comments and laughing continued.

Im so upset by the whole thing it’s put me off going to the gig at all and it’s ruined the reunion for me, I know it sounds daft but it has really got to me. I feel totally ridiculed.

I’ve just told DH about it and he laughed and said he’s not surprised I’m getting stick for it!? Was it really such a bad thing to say?!

Your comment was reasonable enough from your own point of view but it’s also reasonable for people to point out that London isn’t easy for most people to get to. A central London date isn’t any easier for someone who lives in, eg, Newcastle or Cardiff. I am actually from London but I now live in Manchester, and if a band wasn’t playing in Manchester, London would not be the next-best option for me! Liverpool, Leeds or Birmingham would be much more helpful.

People could have been more polite, sure. But for you to be this upset by a stupid internet argument, to the point that you don’t want to go to the gig and are no longer excited about the reunion, is absolutely ridiculous. You’re being way too sensitive.

I do think on the band's fan page it was a ridiculous thing to say. Assuming fans are based all over the UK and only one UK date has been announced and it is London and you've commented to basically say I hope the next date is even more London cos that would be easier for everyone?!!

But to not go cos strangers have laughed at your comment then that's even more ridiculous! Go and enjoy yourself!

The comment was a little bit short sighted. I'm another who wouldn't have commented, but I'd have rolled my eyes. Central London or outer London wouldn't be my first choices for any gig. I'd probably slightly prefer outer, given the choice, as it's generally a bit cheaper.

what I meant was if there was a gig in central London it would be easier for people from all over the UK to get to

How? I dont understand

Surely somewhere more central like Birmingham is easier for people from ALL OVER the UK?

What you said makes very little sense imo which is why they ridiculed you

I think they were unkind but I think your comment is batshit

London itself IS easy to get to from lots of places. It might not be very affordable but you do find transport routes heading that way. In this situation I’d either have ignored the comments or responded with “well it works for me 😏” and left it like that. People love getting worked up about London but gigs here often sell out before other venues across the country.

It didn't deserve ridicule but lots of hate happens on London

London isn’t easy for “everyone” to get to though. It does seem like a Londoner ignorance point of view.

of course the fan page is silly though, they always are. I just read and move on. No posts

There's already one in London and you want another more central? Maybe they thought you wanted one in your living room too! ;)

Don't sweat it though, it's not that deep, and definitely still go!

Fuck em. Not your fault they cant to get to London, go and have an amazing time!!

Maybe there is frustration that the band is only going to be in London and those elsewhere in the UK are frustrated by that, your comment, whilst harmless, has been jumped on by those frustrated people.

Don't give it another thought and enjoy it when you go.

Was it on Facebook? Because Facebook comments are usually filled with very angry people for no apparent reason. I'm not massively thick skinned when it comes to the Internet but I also have drilled it into myself, people aren't always nice online, there is a level of anonymity or even behind screen protection which means that the poster can behave in a way that means they'd unlikely too irl.
Please don't let a few people looking for a reason to London bash stop you enjoying the gig.
I'm from Liverpool and the absolute venom from people I see about scousers is unreal but it balances out with the "best people you'll ever meet" comments, neither are true tbh, just people, some wonderful, some shitty, some OK.
People love to hate on certain places, London gets it but I presume that's jealousy of being able to afford central London.

I think your comment was a bit odd considering they’re already doing a night in London….. I mean it’d probably be easier for you if they performed in your back garden but that’s unlikely.

I’d probably look at the comment, give a quick eye roll and move along.

yes asking for a 2nd gig to be be in central london, when they're already doing one in london is very very london centric and narrow minded, there are many other cities & venues across the country

It was a little silly but something I'd have just scrolled past. I assume this is FB? It is like that on there.
I don't understand why it would put you off the gig as opposed to posting comments on social media and then wanting others not to interact with them.

Suggesting a second gig in London was, quite frankly, asking for trouble. You should still go, though!

So they’re already doing one gig in London, and you commented and said you hoped they’d do another one… also in London? Because it’s easy for everyone to get to?

I can see why that prompted eye rolling, to be honest, and it does seem a bit thoughtless. I am sorry that you’ve been genuinely upset by it though.

It's always a risk posting out on the wild.

But as a northerner, I do get why the 'easier to get to' caused hackles to rise. 'Easy to get to' tends to mean about an hour's drive away, unless I'm staying over. 2 or 3 if I really want to see them. London is not easy to get to in the context of going to see a band. It adds massive expense.

I do get where you’re coming from in a sense OP. I’m nowhere near London but if I were travelling down for a gig central would be easier than the outskirts but only by a wee bit.

Everything is very London centric and it is frustrating when you’d love to see a band/stand up/play but it’s only on in London and you don’t have the time nor the funds to do essentially a mini break when all you really want is a fun evening out and back to your own bed.

I would have rolled my eyes at your content because it’s silly but it’s not worth screenshotting and ridiculing for ages.
A second gig would hopefully would be elsewhere like Manchester or Edinburgh so that fans weren’t paying for trains and hotels in London

I love boxing and started a little boxing commentary twitter page. I said something that obviously made me sound too girly to be part of that crew and they hounded me off it. I wish I had a thicker skin but I don’t. Don’t worry about it. Ignore them and go to the gig and enjoy it!

Your comment was typical, not the comment about wishing the band would play in central London but your comment Bout it being easy for the rest of the U.K to get to. You do know the trains, roads and planes actually leave London to travel to the other parts of our Islands. Glasgow as the crow flies is 345 miles from London and shock horror it is 345 miles from London to Glasgow. If it is easy for people to travel to London, then it is just as easy for you to travel elsewhere.

Och, they were just being arseholes. Don't take it to heart.

So you mentioned on the actual band's fan page that you were excited for a reunion gig and hoped they would add an extra date in London? Its quite common for bands to put on more than one night in the larger cities if they think they can fill the venue and often they only know that by how quickly tickets are selling.

No You are NOT being unreasonable.

We've gone to Birmingham for gigs before because London gigs sold out completely. I can only guess that was due to higher demand v venue capacity.

Of course people want to have a gig that is a more convenient distance to them.
You probably stirred feelings about events like this often being focused on the capital or bigger cities and not equally regionally. I think that's what they were complaining about. I don't think they were getting at you personally. but they do sound a bit mean.

But don't get upset by these complete strangers. Who cares what they think. Individual bands have different goals when booking tours, who knows what their decisions are based on? People can only speculate.

Book your tickets, take a friend or DH, look forward to it and enjoy yourself and forget these strangers.

Definitely plays. I would love to take my 6th form to see the plays we study, but taking them to London would require a stay over and then it would be megabucks.

A lot of people are just anti-London and think Londoners think the world revolves around London (I don't agree with them). They probably just see you as a typical Londoner. Don't take it to heart. Just ignore them and enjoy the gig!