As someone who plays in noisy pubs fairly frequently, one of the things that often surprises me is how often people who appeared to spend the whole time talking will often come up and say how much they enjoyed the music and some charitable souls will even buy us beer.
Folk clubs where silence is required and appreciation shown for the poorest of performances are the preserve of the enthusiast.
More pertinent to the thread is the fact that you probably have to do a better job in the pub to get praise than you will ever have to do in a folk club.
john