Paul - while I do welcome older children at my gigs there's no doubt that a small child - or anyone of any age who's not willing or able to give their full attention to the show - can be a problem if you aim to spellbind an audience at any point. Even a small noise at the wrong moment can completely break the mood you've worked so hard to create. I prefer to have kids at the front where I can engage them, and hopefully keep their attention, than at the back where they may not be listening and so might do something distracting at an unfortunate moment. At one village hall gig last year a small toddler made it impossible for anyone to concentrate on anything, picking the exact worst moments to cry out (just as I was trying to deliver the 'wings' line in God Speed, for example) and the gig had no tension or magic at all as a result. If the rest of the audience had asked for their money back I'd have sympathised. I had a grim night. Tom