Dammit Fielding, but you pose some difficult questions. I think that this was unfair to spring on the performer. I performed at a music shop in a town near here that has a large store and they have built a performance area inside the store. Great venue for intimate little shows. I played for a group that included a group of people just as you described. It was difficult, but I knew in advance that it was coming and was prepped for it. But if I had not been prepared for this, and the object was to perform intricate arrangements, and the venue was appropriate.............in other words, this is not a pub but a concert venue, it was wrong to spring that on the performer.

Having said that, your friend exercised some pretty poor judgement. I think I would have used a mental trick to shut out the audience and just sunk into myself and performed it. The show must go on, and all that. At the intermission, I certainly would have spoken to the management of the house on the matter. But I would never have vilified the "blessed ones" in the way that he did. Aside from the predictable outcome, I couldn't hurt them in that way. A thought comes to me as I am typing this. Perhaps a better way would have been to approach the Social Worker and explain the problem, and invite them backstage after and do a small private concert for them. I don't know, just a thought.

All the best,

Mick