OMG - I hate it when audience members try to clap to a performance!!!!!! Sucks the life right out of a performance. So annoying.
Good player though - thanx Tony!
Often the audience are encouraged to do it. And when the mics that pickup the clapping are on stage it is IMPOSSIBLE for the clapping to be in time with the music. It has nothing to do with poor timing on the part of the audience ... it is all about the speed of sound. The sound from the stage area travels out to the audience who clap to it and then the sound of the clapping then travels back to the microphones ... of course it will be totally out of time with the music that is being picked up on stage. And of course depending how far back they are sitting all the audience are hearing the same beat at different times.
It is because of this in big concert rooms and stadiums the speakers that are further towards the back have digital delay added to the signal so it matches the time it takes for the sound from the main stage speakers to travel to the back of the room. They are called delay stacks and reinforce the sound that travels to the back. Otherwise people near the back would be constantly hearing a weird echo effect.