The battlefield is in every movie theatre and concert hall

AS sad and horrible as it is, we live in a time where we have to watch the exits when watching our favourite bands play.

Children leaving Manchester Arena following explosions. Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

GONE are the days when youth were losing their lives in war fighting the ‘bad guys’ in the trenches. The battle, like it or not, is here. It’s in our movie theatres. In our concert halls and cafes.

Opposition leader Bill Shorten made the point on Tuesday after it was confirmed 22 people were killed at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester.

“What makes this different to a casualty on a battlefield is that you think when your kids listen to music, they would be safe,” he told reporters.

They should have been safe. Those youths should have danced and listened to their idol sing their favourite songs, just like we all have in the past. And then they should have gone home. They should have gone home and regaled their parents with stories from the concert and how one day they wanted to be on stage themselves.

But 22 didn’t go home. They never got to call their friends and talk endlessly about the concert.

When you think back to your teenage years — years filled with going to the movies, to dance clubs and music concerts — did you ever think: “I was so lucky to have been able to do that without fear?”

Police escort members of the public from the Manchester Arena. Photo: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull spoke movingly about today’s tragedy when he said: “It’s a basic human right to be able to go out in public places and into public spaces.”

It may be a right but for many it’s no longer a freedom.

Watching the thousands of comments stream in as the news broke of the explosion and the 19 deaths, one comment struck me deeply. It was a woman on Facebook responding to the tragedy.

“I went to a gig not long ago and was constantly watching the exits and I do the same if I go to the clubs,” she wrote.

It dawned on me that I do the same thing. In a movie theatre if I see a lone theatregoer with a big backpack my heart skips. When at a gig I position myself near an exit. I scan the room. Even on a train you can feel the fear in the air when a bag is left unattended for even a few minutes.

Music was and is meant to bring escapism. It is not meant to instil fear and anger. You’re not meant to go out facing the possibility of not coming home, ever.

I don’t believe in an interventionist God, but if I did ...