I recently did amini tour in England.Whitby folk club[30] was well attended,Scarborough folk festival[hundreds] was well attended,Stockton folk club[40] was well attended.
about 1996 I once had a shared gig with Jim Bainbridge,the venue was Sheffield,the organiser was a Mr Marshall,only one person turned up,and that was an ex girlfriend of mine,fair play to Vaughan Marshall,he paid us both.
so poor attendances are not a new phenomenon,it can depend upon the venue ,the organiser[possibly his/her popularity,possibly his her promotion],plus,what else is happening the same night.
on this particular occasion I doubt if it was either the fault of the two guests,the next night I had a usual folk club attendance of 30 plus.Dick Miles