Florence Welch halts concert to break up fan fight

Herald online

12 Dec, 2012 08:45 PM3 mins to read

Florence Welch on stage at Vector Arena. Photo/Sarah Ivey

Opinion

Don't mess with Florence Welch.

The Florence + the Machine songbird turned peacemaker and broke up a fight between audience members during a gig over the weekend.

Welch, 26, was performing at the Exhibition and Conference Centre in Aberdeen, Scotland, on Sunday when she spotted two fans fighting in the crowd.

The singer abruptly halted her rendition of the band's Shake It Out to confront the pair.

"I can't have a fight in front of me while I'm singing this song. No fighting allowed!" shouted Welch.

"I don't know what's happening but I would quite like it to stop. It doesn't matter whose fault it is."

She continued in a schoolmarmy tone, "Excuse me, all of you - STOP IT. I'm sorry all of you if you're upset".

The singer then spotted a young girl crying in the audience.

"Is she OK, is she going to be alright? You all right my love?" she asked, before climbing down from the stage - barefoot - and giving her a hug.

Welch then hopped back on stage, telling the crowd to "kiss and make up and be good to each other!"

Picking up where she left off, the singer added, "Shall we start again?"

And audience member dished to British tabloid the Daily Star: "You don't expect the talent to have to act as a bouncer as well. But it was typical Florence - unpredictable and ready for anything.

"She was like a UN envoy, only better. There were some tough people there, but she was prepared to risk it. She proved she really cares about her fans."

Welch later took to Twitter to address the incident.

"YES ABERDEEN!! #NOSHOES #NO FIGHTING!! we love you Scotland. Xx," she wrote.

Check out fan-recorded footage of the incident below (action kicks in at around the 1min 20sec mark):

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