Hi there weelittledrummer!

Ah yes, I remember it well! Dire gigs with ignorant audiences were (and still are) common enough. Thankfully, though, they were (and remain) a relatively small minority of the total. There's even a measure of compensation when these dreadful nights gradually become the stuff of legend, as fellow sufferers try to out-do each other with their heavily dramatised reminiscences. But for all that, I don't think your two stories (or a few similar ones that I could relate) throw much light on the reasons for the decline of folk clubs.

After all, sectarian intolerance and belligerent stupidity can be found in many other areas of our communal life – religion, politics, and association football, for example – which flourish in spite of these distractions. If we are looking for a reason for the folk club movement's alleged loss of purpose and momentum, I think we must look elsewhere. I tried to suggest some possibilities in a previous post. Any comments?

Wassail!