Living for a while in an area of the South that was virtually devoid of folk clubs or even acoustic sessions, I found that open mic audiences didn't necessarily regard a PA as a licence to talk over the performance, and that a very mixed audience was often very receptive to folky material (I mean real traddy stuff, not just acoustic singer-songwriter stuff.) Obviously all open mics are not the same, just as sessions and folk clubs vary widely. But they're not the work of the devil. :)