There is nothing quite like being on stage and really connecting with the audience. There is a circular engergy transfer that happens -- the audience picks up on what the performer is doing and sends back the energy 100-fold. This enables the performer to keep it flowing and to increase the intensity. I have also found that when I am really connecting with the audience, I play a lot better. It is almost impossible for me to make a mistake when I am really getting the energy back from the audience. Not only am I uplifted emotionally, but my playing is uplifted as well.

An interesting thing I have found is that this energy feedback loop can take different forms -- I have felt it in a tavern where everyone in the place was up and dancing, pounding on the tables, and screaming after every song. And I have felt it in a room that is completely still, with everyone sitting and carefully watching and listening to everything that happens on stage. Very different manifestations of the same thing.

And no, it never goes away or becomes old hat.

John