John, I also much prefer accoustic to plugged in, but I think its is a very limited setup with only one or two mics - so just enough for the voices. I hadn't even thought about not plugging in, because I'm completely a novice and thought we just had to (d'oh). Also I'm fitting in with what my friend wants to do really, so I'll just be testing the waters this time. I'll certainly check out whether we could take along some extra mics next time & stick with playing accoustic-like (I'd definitely feel more comfortable with that).

Kris (PS. if we're crap is it OK to blame the soundman? (joke!))