I'm pleased to note that all of Mudcat's fearsome critical standards are alive and well on this thread1

- You are not allowed to comment negatively on a performance because the performer 'has-had-the-guts-to-put-their-work-up-there-in-the-public-domain' and, has, therefore, presumably, put their work beyond criticism (?)

- Tom Jones can't possibly be a good singer because he's got weird hair.

- People in sparkly red knickers, who do Kirsty MacColl songs, should sound like Kirsty MacColl.

- People from a folk music lineage are automatically qualified as folk singers no matter what material they decide to perform ("...anything a folk musician does (especially one of Eliza's experience) is intrinsically connected to folk music and its development").

- We should automatically embrace the new (and reject the old?) - even if we don't happen to like it

- Objecting to massed ranks of musicians drowning out the sound of a singer's voice with a blanket of sound means that you're 'anti-musician'.

Come back Kenneth Tynan and find out where you were going wrong all those years!

Let's get one thing straight. I think that Eliza Carthy is one of the most exciting talents to come along in years. At a festival a few years ago her music blew my socks off (it is reported that my smouldering footwear was found two counties away!). Nevertheless, last night's performance left me cold and, for that reason disappointed me. I'm sorry if that upsets anyone (well, I hope it doesn't upset Ms Carthy - you lot can look after yourselves!) but I'm not going to express false enthusiasm over something I don't particularly like.