Nothing wrong with PA *when you need it*. When you don't, it's a pain in the bum, setting a barrier between artist and audience. I use PA when I have to (I'll be using it this afternoon for a half hour spot on an open air stage in a street party) but I avoid it where I can.

It's precisely the barrier that PA erects that leads to audiences talking and, yes, eating crisps during an artist's performance. The vast majority of audience in a folk club won't talk or eat crisps during a performance when there is no PA, because they are sensible and, frequently, too caught up in the performance to want to talk.

It's not restricted to the UK. Last weekend I spent at the Fanoe Folk festival off the coast of Denmark. I went to 2 concerts, the first amplified heavily and the second unamplified in a church. Guess which one had the pin-drop atmosphere and which the shouting yahoos ...

To return to the thread, nice one (as ever) Lewes, but I agree with Valmai, there's plenty going on elsewhere in the UK, and in terms of kids coming through the scene's heathier than it's been for many a long day.

Chris