One of the curses of gig-going in London is talkers. I've mentioned it before, and I always hope it's going to get better, but if anything it gets worse. It's night on impossible to go to a non-seated show and not have to root around to find a spot where the nearby crowd is as quiet and into watching the band as I am.
I'm not unreasonable but there have been occasions where my evening has been near ruined by having to tell someone to be quiet. This usually elicits a response of befuddlement - as in, "Oh but I'm out with my friends at a socia event and we just had to catch up on our tremendously exciting lives and I didn't think I was doing anything wrong." At a Knife gig late last year the young couple near me were so loud with their constant inane chatter (and the girl's voice so high pitched that most of the dog population of Kilburn probably relieved itself en masse) that I had to ask (quite abruptly) if they could stop it. His response: "Look, just because we're talking doesn't mean we're not enjoying the gig, man."
Really.
Anyhow, one of the many great things about the Luminaire is their absolute distaste for these idiots. In the past they've made it clear on their website that the venue is for listening to bands and not ruining other people's evening by yakking, and even their bar staff are trained to be as quiet as possible during performances, but obviously the message still needs to get through. So they've provided a little assistance with some polite notices by the bar and the stage area (above).
Luminaire we salute you.
(Incidentally, the Jazz Cafe has the phrase STFU painted large just above the stage. I'll leave it to readers to work out for themselves what it stands for...)