"Went to see Bellowhead at Sheffield University. £15.00 a ticket no discounts for OAP's like me. Packed. 650 folk. "

"Went to see Alistair Anderson, Catriona McKay, Donald Grant, Peter Cropper - look him up!! £15.00 per ticket. Packed. 250 folk"

I'm not sure Bellowhead is all that relevant to this discussion: they're pretty much the most bankable folk act in the UK right now. It would be pretty depressing if Bellowhead *weren't* selling 650 tickets at £15 a head. They're not really the sort of in-between journeyman musicians the mag's article was addressing.

And I'm very pleased to hear that the second line-up you mentioned managed to attract 250 people at £15 a ticket - that's highly impressive.

I could add examples such as the Goose Is Out club in East Dulwich too - they also routinely attract 100+ crowds at £10+ a ticket.

But I remain unconvinced that you can simply hoik up ticket prices at folk clubs to that degree at the pub function room/church hall level and make it work.

I note that that Alistair Anderson, Catriona McKay, Donald Grant, Peter Cropper gig was at The Round which would appear to be an arts-council-funded Sheffield equivalent to, say, the Cornerhouse in Manchester, the Barbican in London, the Sage Gateshead etc etc There's an irony in that audiences seem to be prepared to pay a premium to see Bert Jansch at the Roundhouse, or Martin Carthy at the Southbank – subsidised venues – that they query when it's a pub backroom.

I'll also note that there are a lot of musicians in Bellowhead, and that there are four musicians in that last line-up.