If we're talking folk-venues, I've heard of one where they 'rip-off' their audience price-wise - usually the opposite. good performers at bargain prices.

I recently paid £24 for the 'Transatlantic Sessions Live' gig at Birmingham Symphony Hall, and for that sum I got:-

1) A first-class performance hall with stunning acoustics,
2) Superbly comfortable seats with acres of leg-room for even the tallest punter,
3) Seventeen of the best artists I've ever seen performing two-and-a-half hours of top-class American and British folk/roots music. To name but a few - Aly Bain, Phil Cunningham, Michael McGoldrick, Jerry Douglas, Dan Tyminski, Tim O'Brien, Eddi Reader, Cara Dillon, Karen Matheson.

That's the most I've paid for any folk/roots concert ever. Compare with £75 for Muse, £45 for Fleetwood Mac, £28 for Alison Moyet, all in the past 6 months.

I reckon folkies get a great bargain.