bubblyrat,
I'm sorry you left so early. We were running the session on Saturday. I know the group you mean. They were hard work.When we arrived I went around the garden asking all the musicians and singers how they wanted to play it.At the time there were not many, and they were extremely diverse ( a group of singers with guitars, two violinists and this young group. )There was an attempt to get people to take turns in starting a tune / song for everyone to join in, but the 2 violinists didn't feel comfortable starting , the young "band" wouldn't join in with anyone else and then played everything at double speed when they took a turn - which stopped the others from joining in.I had thought I was going to have trouble with them from the start when they had said the session didn't need to be led and that they would leave if we took turns.I decided after about twenty minutes that the most comfortable scenario for all would be to give everyone a turn to sing or play - with the condition that anyone could join in with anything.Needless to say, the young group didn't leave and took their turn like anyone else - except that they took their time to start a tune when asked and needed "persuading" to perform. I cured this by asking someone else to take their turn when they took too long.(Not being able to smack legs nowadays I thought this the best alternative)
By the end of the session we had been treated to some great singing and playing. One group of people had just come in for a drink but volunteered to sing as a group if Stuart could play for them. They didn't know all the words but worked them out between them , with most other customers joining in.
As I say. I'm sorry you didn't feel you could take part - but I did my best to make the session enjoyable and inclusive , despite some opposition from some youthful egos.