I'd really like to think Elmore was being ironic when they posted the throat-singing concert advert into this thread rather than starting one of their own ...

As regards the main theme I can't say as I'd even noticed that there was a growing preponderance of adverts over discussion threads, it all looks like Mudcat as usual to me (in both the good and bad senses of 'Mudcat as usual'). Blocking all posts from un-logged-in GUESTs would go a long way to fixing a bunch of the bad stuff as ably illustrated by 03 Nov 13 - 03:49 PM: Mudcat has a long tradition of tolerating pseudonyms for those who wish to hide their true identity.