I hope Charley will return to the post as he's set off quite a powder keg here.

Charley, you said:-

"Without blowing my own trumpet, I think I made a reasonable fist of this."

This reminds me a bit of those football managers who say "If I was the sort of person who makes excuses I'd blame all the injuries the team has had lately" .

You were obviously worried about the blow to your confidence, and until late in the thread I didn't realise that you were quite new to the folk scene. I think I overlapped slightly with you in that session but wasn't there for when you did the solo. Acoustic guitar would just not carry well in a situation like that in a marquee because a guitar doesn't have that penetration.

Confidence has to be built up over a number of years and when you have had a lot of positive experiences, you don't worry too much about the negative ones , which happen to even the most seasoned of performers. Sometimes it's just a case of "horses for courses" and on some days there seems to ne just "something in the air" for no explicable reason. I had a blazing row with my wife over going to the same session instead of listening to a concert!

I'm not sure if you are local to the area but please don't think this is typical of Leicestershire . I know John Montague who ran the session well and he runs a monthly open mike at East Goscote - I can assure you you will be welcomed and listened to as you will be in the vast range of acoustic venues in the East Midlands.