Richard, do calm down dear.

Just to put the record straight I am not slagging off Tom Paley, he is a musician that I have much admired and appreciated since his earliest appearances on disc with the new Lost City Ramblers. I would merely say that he is a far superior musician on guitar and banjo than he is on fiddle, Tom would not argue that point I am sure. Also in my opinion on fiddle his music is more appreciated generally in the UK when he plays American rather than Swedish material.
Before you ask, my opinion is based on seeing him regularly since he first took up residence in the UK. The "some Swedes" to whom I refer were in London, they do sometimes escape you know.

To return to the point of this thread can I say to the original poster Do go to the Cellar Upstairs and ignore the rubbish spoken about the audience. Both as a performer and member of the audience I have always had a good evening there. If you are fortunate enough to catch an evening when Tom is there then you can make up your own mind about his music and the audience.
Go along with an open mind AND a sense of humour.