OK folks. I thank everyone for the feedback. I think that this was one of the most informative and well thought out threads on Mudcat.

Some ask why I did not return to this thread sooner. It is because I wanted to hear YOUR opinions this matter which I value very much.
At one point the posts were coming in faster than I could read them so I could not have responded sooner even if I wanted to.

When you have an audience of 32 people in your living room and only 2 decide to make a spectacle of themselves, I think that you are doing something right. Among those who totally enjoyed the show and heartily applauded the performers were some folks whom I know to be diehard Republicans and supporters of our present policy in Iraq. In fact one of them was given an award as the GOP volunteer of the year for the entire state of NJ and to hear her heartily singing along with Greg & Terry to the chorus of "Haul Them All Off To Jail" was indeed a sight to behold. At the end of the performance Magpie was given a standing ovation and were brought back out to do an encore.

The 2 ladies that walked out were first timers who had picked up my flyer at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival. They are not regulars and I do not expect to ever see them again. I was sitting up front, less than 5 feet from the performers when they walked up to me in the middle of a song and asked for their money back. They lacked any modicum of common decency whatsoever.

As far as the resolution of the matter goes, Greg & Terry graciously took the matter out of my hands and will be sending these ladies a refund, not because they deserved it but because they felt bad for the aggravation that I was going through as a result of this incident. Greg & Terry are truly great human beings as well as fantastic performers. They will always be welcome back at the Borderline and we are planning to rebook them again at a future date down the road.

As for me, I will never tell a performer who appears at my venue what they can or can not play & sing. I will definitely not back down when faced with one or two mal-contents who want to spoil it for everyone else.

I am having Christine Lavin for my next show on November 23rd and you know that nobody is going to tell Christine what she can or can not sing. If she wants to sing "The Liar Sleeps Tonight" she has my full blessings to do so. By then we will already know who our next President will be and tempers will not be so hot, unless this election also ends up as a 5 to 4 Supreme Court decision.

I thank all those who participated in this thread for the education that you have given me.

SOL