Who'd have thought one could spend Saturday night in a time machine. I'm sure I read this thread before - wasn't it in the pages of Folk Review in the 1970s or Folk Roots in the 1980s? The only difference now is that people in their 30s and 40s are thought of as the welcome young ones, whereas back then they were the geriatric problem. All of the stuff about venues, floor singers, PA systems, in-crowds, blokes with beards, nothing has changed. Groundhog day. Solutions offered - the same ones, but presumably nobody listened much.

The only difference nowadays: 1) we have hundreds of festivals where people get to find out how good the music can be, especially played by the newer generation, so become less tolerant of the shoddy, 2) arts centres, where people get to find out how pleasant it can be to experience music in a decent listening environment with reasonable professional organisation, so become less tolerant of the shoddy.

I ran successfull folk clubs in the 60s, 70s and early 80s but wouldn't dream of attempting it now. Much appreciation for those who continue to do it well: audiences' expectations are so much higher. The old way is often not good enough any more. Many of the 'singers clubs' would be better off - in almost all ways - as private house concerts/ sessions where they would maintain almost all their positive attributes without running the risk of the general public encountering them and being dismayed.