I'm still concerned at the nasty outbreak of homophobia at the start of the thread. A former MP who happens to be gay made disparaging comments about a trad singer. He was voicing what many of the general public think (through conditioning, lack of education and all the rest of it) of their cultural heritage. It's not as though they're not occasionally right in their assessment. But it became an open season: let's kick the queer to death. Is someone going to tell me that Ghandi would have advocated this display of blinkered pack hunting, even towards a Tory?

The fact is that there is a prevailing attitude in far too many quarters that a low standard of organisation, presentation and performance is "good enough for f*lk" Hey, I know, let's call those of this dumbed down LCD mindset "GEFFs". I've described in some detail one of the worst scenarios I've ever encountered (and no, Slimy Slug, I'm NOT going to name those involved). Apart from all other considerations, it would be highly unfair and damaging to the reputation of the booked artists involved.

I've never been at the Slug's gaffe in Lewes but many who have have described it to me as well-run and an excellent shop window for trad music. Good but that's not typical, as others have pointed out a-plenty. The Learned Bridge bleats on and on and on about 1954 and how no-one should judge anyone else's performance as "not good enough" (I've long since stopped reading). The point is that no-one should emerge from their bedroom and make public exhibitions of themselves until they CAN. It should be self-regulatory and a homage to the music, not a signal of its imminent death knell.

After all, everybody KNOWS when they're still crap. I do. It's your duty to the musical heritage, yourself and your audience to perform excellently. A lower standard will not do. However else can you hope to change the widely-held perception "out there" that the tradarts are a ridiculous anachronism?