At Meredith on the weekend, I was once again reminded of what a beautiful communal experience a music festival can be. But at another gathering just 100 kilometres away, a different truth was being thrust into the spotlight: the experience is built upon a compact between audience and artist, and it can easily be broken.

That is what happened at Good Things in Melbourne, when Shirley Manson, lead singer of 1990s indie rock band Garbage, turned on a fan in the crowd for the egregious sin of waving a beach ball above his head.

Shirley Manson of Garbage – pictured at a show in Mexico last month – berated a fan at Good Things Festival in Melbourne on Saturday.Credit: AP

“Oh dude, you’re such a big f---ing important guy with your big f---ing beach ball,” Manson said in her Scottish brogue. “Ooooh. I’m so scared of you. So thrilled by you. What a f---ing douchebag.”

At first, Ben O’Brien, the object of Manson’s derision, thought it was a bit of harmless, if rather vicious, banter. But when Manson stepped the abuse up a notch, O’Brien told the website Blunt, he began to feel “very small and a bit afraid”.

Calling him “a f---ing middle-aged man in a f---ing ridiculous hat” and “a f---ing f---face”, Manson said she wanted “to ask people to f---ing punch you in the f---ing face. But you know what? I’m a lady, so I won’t.”

In case he hadn’t got the message, she added, “I would love to send my crew over........

© The Age