Bars will be closed at David Gray’s upcoming concert at the 3Arena this weekend.

The 3Arena shared a post on social media which said, “Once David Gray goes on stage, all bars will close and will remain closed for the duration of the show.”

It follows complaints of a raucous crowd constantly coming and going from the bar at the venue during his performance there earlier this month.

 

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David Gray himself posted a video to social media after the performance saying, “I don’t think I’ve ever heard the audience as rowdy as that - and a bit out of control in a way”.

Kerry journalist John O’Mahoney attended the gig and described it as “the concert from hell”.

“I’m no spring chicken but there were people older than me and they were up and they were roaring and they were shouting and unruly,” he told Lunchtime Live.

“We saw two fights breaking out close to use – there were two guys fighting at one stage and a woman attacked the man behind her physically later on in the night; it was quite unreal.

“I think David Gray’s frustration seeped into the crowd then because he was getting very anxious and very angry about it.

“He actually appealed to the people, he was singing a song that he’d penned about his father and he said, ‘Look, could you please just do me a favour and sit through this one and forget about the bar for five minutes’.”

Concert crowd applauding at a music festival. Image: Pal Szilagyi Palko / Alamy. 8 August 2016

However, host of No Encore music podcast Dave Hanratty said closing the bars during the show could lead to more trouble than it’s worth.

“David Gray did mention in his previous address that it was a beautiful day in Dublin and he speculated that maybe people had been drinking beforehand,” he said.

“Look at the weather today – if we’re going to get a nice day on Friday and people are going to the gig knowing that they can’t get a drink at the gig, does that mean that they will, in fact, prepare in advance?

“Some people might say it’s very pretentious and it’s an artist being a bit over the top but ultimately, if you have a particular style that you want to convey to the crowd, you want their attention, it’s not unreasonable to ask for such a thing.”

Other listeners got in touch with their own experience of overly drunk audiences at live performances.

Main image: David Gray performing at The Groove Festival at Kilruddery House in Bray Co. Wicklow, Ireland. Image: WENN Rights Ltd / Alamy. 06.07.14.