I WENT to a gig this week, for the first time in a long time.

Billed as a double-headliner, it was very much a gig of two halves. I’m not sure how the opening act labelled himself, but imagine if Chas and Dave, The Wurzels and Russell Brand wrote political songs in an attempt to impress Billy Bragg, and that’s something like how it turned out.

For close to 90 minutes he laid into easy targets – the government, fracking, the internet, advertising – and drew enthusiastic cheers from the crowd.

Standing on stage with bare feet, wearing clothes without labels, I watched him preach about the evils of capitalism, while his CDs were on sale at the merchandising stand for £10 a pop and t-shirts cost £15.

Still, as he continued to half-sing, half-rap along to guitar, squeezebox and some beautiful violin, I watched the audience, and realised just how subjective music is.

Obviously, not everyone has the same taste in music, and if we did, the world would be boring. It’s never been clearer to me than when I watched a couple of hundred people sing along to a song about a couple in Brighton.

In fairness, it was the high point of the set – a genuinely sweet love song, not drenched in saccharine, but focused on human comfort and affection, not overblown romantic clichés.

As the song went on, I watched couples in the crowd sing along to each other with huge smiles on their faces, and thought to myself ‘maybe I’ve got it wrong, perhaps this guy’s better than I thought’.

Sadly, the rest of the set didn’t really convince me, and he was still the lesser of the two acts in my mind, but I was happy to see so many people enjoying themselves, even if it wasn’t my cup of tea.

It seems acceptance of differing views is one thing that’s becoming less and less common these days, with hate groups popping up left, right and centre against even the least offensive matters. It’s a shame, but indicative of the world we live in.

Look at the backlash against the recent advent calendar released by Greggs which depicted a nativity scene with a sausage roll in place of the baby Jesus.

It was a move which (cynics might suggest) was designed specifically to court internet notoriety, go viral and get people talking about the Greggs brand – that old suggestion ‘there’s no such thing as bad publicity’ – and, unsurprisingly, it brought the fury of anyone with a religious bone in their body.

Their anger was reported nationwide, making a cheap marketing ploy a talking point around the country, and for all the talks of Christians and Catholics boycotting the high street bakery, I don’t imagine for a second their profits will have taken a dent.

Others, less interested in religion, said it was just a bit of fun, and there was no need to make a fuss about it.

Similarly, an email dropped into The Press’ inbox last week which seemed to be crafted in the same way – albeit less blasphemous.

It said research showed tradespeople in Yorkshire were challenging the stereotypes that they were unhealthy, uneducated and probably unhappy in their jobs.

They claimed, that while tradespeople in the region eat 16 Hobnob biscuits, drinks 13 cups of tea, 15 coffees and 11 pints of beer a week, “the most common misconception about them is that they are both sexist and untidy”.

It also said we might be surprised to learn these people ate fruit rather than bacon sandwiches, read books eight times a week, and engaged in political discussions seven times a week.

Several of us in the office read and reread the email, and wondered exactly who it was aimed at, before consigning it to the recycling bin and moving on. Others, less bothered about such a throwaway release, might think it a bit of fun, but if I were a tradesman and saw it presented as news, I’m pretty sure I’d be annoyed about it, and it’d do more harm than good.

It could be that the organisation in question was hoping to court some controversy and get their branding out there, but – unlike a Cockney rap protest song – I wasn’t willing to go along with it.

I suppose to equate music with news might be a bit of a stretch, but my point, such as it is, is that while we’re never all going to agree on what’s good or what’s right, by trying to understand the things you don’t like, you can at least get a balanced opinion.