A bunch of people in the presence of a performer do not constitute an audience. You have to "polarize the audience"--that is, get them lined up together, so that they FEEL like an audience. Applause is a big part of that. That's why touring groups so often have opening acts--to get the audience FEELING like an audience, so that when the main act comes on everything booms!

This is not just for the benefit of the performer. A great deal of the pleasure of attending a good performance is joining with others in expressing pleasure. You do a good thing for the listeners by MAKING them an audience which feels together. If all they wanted was to HEAR music, they could stay at home and listen to records.

Dave Oesterreich