How hard is it to clap in time? In defence of Justin Bieber’s What Do U Mean audience diss

Anyone can manage a simple 4/4, stop ruining concerts please.

"At least clap on the right notes, come on guys, stop, stop, stop," Justin Bieber, reformed idiot turned pop banger purveyor, told an audience at a Spanish TV station during an acoustic performance this week. "It's like this. If you're gonna clap, if not... Yeah, at least clap on beat.”

‘JUSTIN BIEBER IS DETERMINED TO ALIENATE HIS FEW REMAINING FANS’ Gigwise screamed over the incident, but I for one was delighted to see him call them out.

People have been clapping out of time ever since the first homo sapien discovered that hitting their palms together makes a nice sound, and it’s infuriating at concerts, really pulling you out of the moment.

[2:35 in]

For musicians, it’s a goddamn nightmare. Do you have any idea how hard it is to play a song in time when 30,000 people are clapping one sixteenth of a beat behind you?

It doesn’t require proficiency in tech metal to clap in time, just very basic coordination of limbs.

Here’s a handy visual for it for future use. Come on planet Earth, you can do it.