I know exactly what you mean. In the south East of England there are many folk clubs and regrettably quite a lot of them are as you describe. The very best are those where the landlord is a fan or at least benign, and in those cases they are even better when run in the main bar of the pub as many unsuspecting members of the public get a chance to hear the music and may even discover that they like it - it also discourages too much dreary stuff from the performers! The trouble with bar gatherings of course, is that the club organiser cannot charge an entrance fee but if the artist is good enough a pot collection can be more than adequate for even quite famous guests like Jez Lowe. Some of the best of this type can be found in Kent and Sussex. Look out for: The Beacon, Tunbridge Wells (1st Monday of month) The Queen's Arms, Cowden Pound (3rd Saturday, 2nd Tuesday and 3rd Tuesday)- better known as Elsie's The Red Lion, Turner's Hill W.Sussex (every Friday) The Rising Sun, Twitton, Otford, Kent (2nd Thursday) Travelling Folk, various pubs in West/Mid Kent (1st and 3rd Thursdays) The Wellington, Seaford, W Sussex (Every Friday) A few of the above don't book guests but are no less fun as a result and give more time for the local talent to excel. Full details can be found in the "What's On Folks" and the "Sussex Folk Diary" as well as "Folk London". Good hunting!