I kind of think that you got the wrong impression of Whitby. Perhaps there was one pub where that happened and not all of the time in there either.

The sessions in ALL of the pubs were eclectic, vibrant and (apart from the one really bad melodian player -that I saw/heard- who insisted on playing so loud that no one else had a chance to do anything and by god he was bad and one bodrhan payer who thought he was great, was very drunk and shouted and played inconsistantly on the off beat) prety damm good.

In fact I didn't see that many guitar thrashers at all mmmmm did i spend the week with my eyes closed?