Of course I made some mistakes but they covered me. But I never made the same mistake twice as the other members were very fierce critics.
As I got more experience I realised that they had been teaching me to stand on my own two feet.

Getting back to folk clubs, I suspect Mike's put his finger on what's changed. The story might go like this: there used to be a demanding audience for folk music, which rewarded people who made the effort to get it right; performers who put in a slipshod performance would be tolerated, but they'd be left in no doubt that they needed to try harder. Now there's an uncritical audience, which rewards anyone who makes the effort to get out of their seat. (But I wasn't around for part 1, so I've no idea if this is true or not.)