guest was me with no cookie for some reason. The poor attandances for unknown artists is not uncommon, in fact i think it is the Norm. I think that it has always been thus, there is stiff competition now from a multitude of events across all the entertainment mediums. Way past when, it was a regular evening out and the rough was taken with the smooth, today there are more choices for a night out and I don't think it is a shortage of money which is responsible, most charges on the door for unknowns are four or five quid and that is worth a punt on, I think it's a shortage of time, people are being more selective where and when they use it. Toughie i know, here the club nights with no paid guests are by far the best attended at the moment and I know of two clubs that are now singarounds, never having paid guests. I know the folk concert series at the National Centre for Early Music has been losing money for the first year ever, now that is worrying cos they are the top acts not pulling people in, that could be finacial at around £20 a ticket + travelling exes. It is just hard graft for bugger all for a long time or hit it lucky with a million pound recording contract. I remember the first time someone offered me money to perform I thought it was a wind up, like paying me to keep quiet!