Oh dear! I find myself agreeing with bits of everyone's postings.
Why not try reducing (personally I'd ban them) the use of music stands and crib sheets by performers.
Perhaps it would assist in removing a certain type of performer who seems to upset some of the subscribers.
How can anyone sing with emotion, passion, conviction or gusto when they're reading the words?
I am probably in a vast minority, but when I see music stands in a folk club it instils in me all sorts of negative thoughts about the performer.
Also, the people who stand up and recite (e.g.) Les Barker's poems (without mentioning that Les wrote them) and haven't got a clue where to place the humorous emphasis.
And the person who appears to know only 2 songs, and has been singing them badly every week for the last ten years.
And what about the people who have been playing the guitar / instrument for a relatively short time yet attempt songs and accompaniment which is FAR too complicated for them.
Most of us started at the "bottom" with 3-chord songs and worked our way up, why don't they learn to do the same.
Finally, I also being at the wrong end of the age scale, note with interest the warmth of subscribers in relation to the folk scene in the 60's & 70's which I share.
Please remember that (generally) two things were missing from a folk club in those days which now exist – microphones and music stands, both of which I believe have combined to form an unhealthy barrier between the performer and the audience.
Should we consider going back to purely acoustic nights for smaller clubs? although, naturally, I appreciate bigger clubs and concerts may still require them.