Careful Jocko,nearly as long a piece as Chorley.Would like to answer a couple of points you raised before going back to put some grease on the cat's boil.
Quality of music - as some of us have grown older,we are looking for more than just dancefloor gratification.Saying that ,at 3 am ,midtempo may not keep us awake,hence a return to Oldies or 60's uptempo.A bit of nostalgia never did us harm.
Ego driven local scenes - not quite sure what you're getting at.If somewhere/someone is enjoying themselves,having a good time,what's wrong with shouting about it?
On this scene,(or what's left of it according to this thread!!!),there's always someone "who's been there, done that".Once you understand that,you can kick back and enjoy.There's a few "local" venues who all hold the same philosophy,maybe if they were a "Collective" ...........
Who's the next Keb and Guy? - Well, may be wrong here,but didn't they have access to a couple of thousand of mainly unplayed tunes to help them along?.If that could happen again,who know's?.
Lastly,the full circle has been reached by this thread.Opinion,insults,opinion.