A twenty verse dirge ,interesting perhaps to a folk enthusiast is hardly going to excite a teenager,whereas a session will.

I'd agree that "session" and "folk club" are at opposite extremes (with "singaround" somewhere in between), but I'd define them a bit differently. "Session" for me equals 'practise for weeks beforehand but still trip up between the A repeat and the B section of your favourite tune, and sit there feeling like an idiot for the rest of the evening'. (At least, that's what I'd be afraid of.) Whereas "folk club" (or rather "singers' night") for me equals 'get up and sing your heart out'.

I must admit, I've hardly ever experienced (or even been part of) a non-performing audience for folk music. I've got a certain amount of sympathy for the position the EFDSS argued at the time of the licensing act - that folk music should be exempted on the grounds that it's not entertainment. Go to a singaround - or a session - and you'll be hard put to see anyone who's sitting there just spectating and being entertained: there's something very enjoyable happening, but everyone there is part of making it happen. If I had a singaround to go to every week, I don't think I'd feel the lack of an audience.