While a Fado is being sung, the room stays silent and nobody gets up. Fado houses are small and the voice isn’t amplified, so a conversation at the back reaches every table and breaks the connection between singer and audience. The musicians need the quiet as well: the guitarists follow the voice as it goes, and they have to hear it.
Phones and photos
Phones are allowed, on silent. For a photo or a recording, turn off the flash and dim the screen. Holding one up through the whole show is another matter: the singers can take it as a lack of respect, and in a small room they see it.
When to clap
At the end of each Fado, and there it’s welcome. Clapping along during the song imposes a rhythm that isn’t the singer’s and throws the guitarists.
Singing along
The singer will sometimes ask the room to join in. Otherwise, don’t: the audience’s voices cut across the performance.