Countess Richard seems to have a bit of a down on some old-fashioned, unreconstructed stuck-in-the-6o's revival clubs, and sge clearer likes the brave new world of the Arts Centres with lots of different stuff going on. Now, I am all in favour of both. particularly apposite to this discussion is Leadfingers comment early. that if a club is running at all it must be well-run, otherwise it would have packed up.
   I find Countess Richard's angry hostility to some venues puzzling. Surely if a few grizzled old folkies want to hang out in the back rooms of pubs singing Copper family songs, what harm I they doing to the world?
   She is right about good fees for performers, of course. I know from my Boat Band experience that an Arts Centre gig will make us more money than a little folk club, because they are geared up for it. They can advertise to a wide clientele, and that clientele is, if not rich, atleast used to shelling out the £10-15 ticket prices common in arts centres, but rare in folk clubs. And she is also quite right that people have very different perceptions of Arts Centres and Folk Clubs. I know that if the Boat Band went and played Yourtown Arts Centre, we would draw a crowd of typically 100 people at £8-10. If, however, we were booked by Yourtown Folk Club, we would probably only pull 30-50 people at maybe £5. That is a fact of life, and absolutely to do with perception. Same town, same band, different type of audience for different type of venue. You might think that for a professional in those circumstances, playing the club instead of the arts centre was a stupid thing to do. This would not necessarily be true. For example, you might have more fun in the club. I just played at Swinton Folk Club, and it was tiny, and we didn't make all that much in the spondulicks line. But I had a friendly night, played acoustically, and the informality meant we could play any song or tune that came to mind or was requested. It is difficult to retain this amount of informality at an Arts Centre or big festival stage(though we do try!).
    All in all, I reckon there is room for all. No one kind of venue is better than another. There are good and bad within each genre. Some arts centres, and some festivals can be dire. Naturally. And what is good for one person can be awful for another. Suck it and see.