I'm not sure wether there are going to be any contributions to this thread...but I'll try anyway. A couple of months ago my dad was doing the sound for Maddie Prior's tour in Australia.When I got to visit him,we got this lively argument about how folk should sound like.I wasn't enthusiastic about his clean sound,so he told me that 'we' always expect a folk concert to be simply a drunken mob listening to a squeaky p.a.
I wonder if really bad sound is a typical folk trait. Would you contribute with your own experiences?!

The funniest 'bad sound story' I have was during an italian folk concert,a month ago.During the sound check the singer kept on asking for a better microphone,saying that one was making her voice sound like plastic.The gig started,and after the first set she marched down the stage,walked to the sound guy with a table knife,grabbed him and said:" You like your cute face,he?!Then you change my microphone before I spoil it,kid" He did a wonderful job during the second set.