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Classical headbanger gets forcibly removed

A Royal Society Research fellow has been ejected from a classical music concert in Britain for attempting an ambitious “crowd-surfing manoeuvre”.

British newspaper The Independent reported Dr David R. Glowacki, an expert in non-equilibrium molecular reaction dynamics, was attending a performance of Handel’s Messiah at the Bristol Old Vic when he had to be removed from the auditorium.

The Bristol Proms, under artistic director Tom Morris, has created an “accessible and informal” environment for classical music performance where audience members are permitted to clap or respond how they please, with no shushing of others.

But Dr Glowacki lived up to his name when he began swaying from side to side, raising his hands in the air before attempting a spot of crowd surfing.

The Independent reported other audience members physically removed Dr Glowacki from the auditorium.

“He got very over-excited,” Mr Morris said.

“It was the first eviction of a classical concert audience member by another member we’ve found since the 18th century.”

Dr Glowacki, who denied being drunk at the time of his ejection, stood by his reaction to the music.

“Classical music, trying to seem cool and less stuffy, reeks of some sort of fossilised art form undergoing a midlife crisis,” he said.

“Witness what happened to me when I started cheering with a 30-strong chorus shouting ‘praise God’ two metres from my face: I get physically assaulted, knocked down to the floor and forcibly dragged out by two classical vigilantes.

“Neither the bourgeoisie audience nor their curators really believe what they say.

“You’re free to behave as you like, and it’s comforting to think that you have that freedom, but it’s only available to you so long as you behave correctly.”

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