Let the record also show that we're talking about Washington DC here, a very
philistine town(*).
[WS:] Yes, comparing to NYC, but not to other cities. Los Angeles is even more philistine than DC, yet street performers on Venice Beach gather crowds. However, the L'Enfant station was chosen because the crowd that passes it tends to be mostly government employees - and unlike their private sector counterparts, these guys and gals are generally NOT philistine.
I take your point about engaging the audience though. I once witnessed a performance of a singer (a young female) on an EL station in Chicago. She was very engaging - talking to the audience, eye contact etc, and also the space was much smaller (the platforms are pretty narrow in underground El stations in the Windy City.) There's a guy here in New York who I see playing the violin in the subway all the time. He's really, really, good. I frequently see people standing and listening to him, or coming up and talking to him between numbers, and he often gets a round of applause.
One more point - you do not have to be "one of the pack" to criticize any place or a group of people. It is OK to criticize anyone and express your negative attitudes toward any place, country or group of people. Auto-censorship and political correctness suck.
Wojtek