I try to do both when I perform and generally get mixed responses from my audiences, most seem to enjoy it and some can't. I'm not a monster soloist and don't pretend to be. I can get by but if I need a soloist for a show and I can afford it, I just hire someone to help me out. I enjoy using intros to songs as a way of making nonmusical contact with my audience and try to make that part of my performances as entertaining as possible. Some venues are better for this than others. Concert type shows are my favorite and seem to work best for stories and the like. Other, noisier places usually only seem to want a sonic wallpaper performance. It's a good idea to try and understand what is needed in each case and apply yourself accordingly. Neither type of show is better, they're just different. Some like to entertain with just music and others with just showmanship still others with various degrees of both. It's difficult at best, maybe even impossible to please everyone. You can please some of the people most of the time and most of the people some of the time but you can't have yer cake and eat the gooey filling too.... Or can you?

That's my story, and I'm stickin' to it.