Shambles
I like your descriptions reminds me of the clubs I ran and visited in the 60s.
The new one I'm now involved with (plug plug) at St. Ives in Cornwall seems a mile away from the oldies. We do sit in curved rows with the odd table but the seats are padded and comfortable with lots of leg room. We don't allow smoking (Richard I sincerely hope your stand isn't prophetic) and the drinks are served from the bar in the main pub.
The singers nights are proving very popular and I hope we would never discourage a newcomer.
Although only new we have managed to give a Cornish duo their first full booking and hopefully have provided a spark that will see the relaunch of Jinxs Stack.

I must confess to being an addict for folk clubs and sessions and can remember the times when the only place Martin Carthy, Ralph McTell, Sandy Denny, et al could get the work that enabled them to keep going was the FOLK CLUB.

Ps. Any catters who are coming this way and would like a booking please get in touch. We do have a guest night every other week (always Saturdays) and we pay!

Sorry to have rambled a bit and used the thread for an ad!
Regards Baz