You're a giant. I haven't seen all the band at a stand-up show in years. Which makes me wonder - why does everyone play standing shows? When I wor a lad (*here we go*) you went to see Decemberist-type groups in seated venues like Hammersmith Odeon or the Rainbow. And you know what? You could see!

But then again I'm 6' 3" so I love a standing gig. But I have to say, I thought the Coronet was a bit rough.

The GLW and I were first timers at the Forum, so I was expecting the upstairs arrangement to be more along the lines of "there are more or less enough seats for everyone, if everyone wants one, but if you prefer standing near the bar, please feel free". However, when so much of the seating is benches rather than individual seats, people tend not to be tidy in the way they organise themselves, even if there's loads of space. We were there a good twenty minutes before the Decemberists came on, but all the individual seats were taken, and we counted ourselves very lucky to find a bench with enough obvious space for the two of us, so I suspect we were close to finding ourselves in the same situation as the complainant. I'd probably have been compelled to do something similar.

(These days we tend to favour the seated areas of gigs, where such exist, out of deference to the diminutive (5' 4") frame of the GLW. Midlake at the Zodiac in Oxford in 2007 were the last straw, as I saw them, while she only heard them, from behind an audience who all appeared to be freakishly tall that night).

However, even accounting for people spreading themselves too wide (and I would take issue with the management blaming us more mature gig-goers for not having the same waist measurement as we did when we were seventeen...), I'd agree with the feeling that there were a lot more people than could ever be accommodated - or to be precise, comfortably accommodated in the stalls on Wednesday.

I'd also guess that if live ticket prices continue to rise steadily as a counterbalance to the loss of revenue from recorded music, people will feel more inclined to complain more loudly when the experience fails to live up to their expectations...

I had what, in middle age, is now my ideal seat - centre of front row in the balcony.

Looking down at the stalls, there was a large, very excited gentleman who stood up waving his arms, punching the air etc. Most of the time he was on his own, like a tree in the middle of a field. Behind him, like a centre parting were 2 or 3 rows of people craning their heads to either side of him, in order to see.

We've all been there, I think.

Fortunately, at 6' 2" I'm tall enough to see most bands, and I did the decent thing at The Decemberists gig, by standing right at the back (lent against the back-wall). I like standing up at gigs, it adds to the atmosphere; and I usually try to let people in front of me if they're polite. From where I was standing, I couldn't see the seating arrangements upstairs, and it was the first time I'd been to the Forum.

However, as is the habit for most audience members, they're all in it for themselves. One lad, decided to spend a good ten minutes pressed up against me, with his backpack in front of him on the floor. I suffered in silence, but who takes a backpack to a gig? You have every right to complain Malcolm, and I'm just disappointed that your frustration otherwise hampered what I thought was an excellent gig.

I went to see Gary Numan at Southampton Uni the other night (A genius due for reappraisal, in my opinion) and apart from the Wavey Davey a few rows in front, it was a great view. However:

1. There was a bloke in the audience wearing sunglasses.

2. Why do people wear wide brimmed hats to gigs?