I do wish people could understand that, it in the end, it all boils down to personal taste - one man's meat being another man's poison, etc.

If you state that you don't like Richard Thompson (say) - all that says is that you don't happen to like Richard Thompson. As it happens, I admire RT greatly - but that merely tells you my taste. In between the two extremes lie a whole spectrum of opinions.

This doesn't mean that we have to suspend our critical faculty but, if you're going to be critical of a performance - in the right place and at the right time - then give a reasoned and balanced critique which - by the way - "grim" is not.