I find myself agreeing with Bill D?

Places where players want to get it right should not be public, but in private, or better still on stage, where the paying public will judge their efforts. If a session is held in public then you have to accept whoever comes along and encourage them, whatever their talent. It's about music after all, it's not about control.

I find, like Mick, that it is far more likely that I will be upset by someone who thinks they are a 'star' than I will be with a less than accomplished musician and the 'real' stars, the ones with exceptional talent, I have found to the most generous of all.

I have found myself becoming increasingly less tolerant of those who's ego exceeds their talent and have found myself leaving sessions, for this reason quite a lot, just lately.

A recent example: I was invited to an informal session and told that it was to be mainly songs, OK. I went along and the chap that invited me sang a song, then the next person and so on. The talent was variable, but all of those whilst not playing their own song, were singing or playing along, or at least listening to whoever was.

Except one individual, who I knew from elsewhere, to be a good (but not as good as he thinks he is) singer and guitarist. He did not sing or play along or even listen. About ten minutes from the end of the evening, he took his guitar out, stood in the middle of the room, despite the fact that there were empty seats and played a song, so he said, a chap that he knew could sing with him. His friend did not in fact sing with him and when he finished that song, he then started another, whilst walking across the room to stop singing and talk to those people on the table. All this time, the rest of us sat there politely waiting for him to restart and then to finish. I left him 'holding the floor', at that point.

All of those present were talented enough to do the same thing and entertain the pub on their own, but chose not do so. I felt his behaviour to be an insult to their talent. It is a bit of a trap, if you stay and listen, under circumstances like this, you boost an already over-inflated ego and encourage his scorn of other's skills. If you leave everyone thinks you are the one that is being rude.

No I don't think elite sessions are OK and if anyone there ask you to stop playing, for whatever reason, you should suggest politely that if they do not like listening to your playing, then they take the only option open to them and that they leave. Of course by that stage, the evening would be ruined and you won't want to stay anyway.

I do believe that people like this are in a minority and that there will be even less of them if we are not prepared to put up with them. Let them play to themselves and start your own sessions.