And as to turning on the “house lights” for a sing along, some audiences LIKE that sort of thing. I don’t go to concerts to sing. I go to see the entertainers sing and play.
I’ve seen Little Richard several times, and the thinnest performance came when he stood on his piano, let someone else play the keys, and led the audience in a variety of songs (including Itsy Bitsy Spider).
I came to see him, do HIS songs (even if he DID record a child’s album later in life).
Some performers will give the audience the show they think they will “like” (covers, etc, “you know, the songs you KNOW”) or the show they deserve (not much effort) if they are unresponsive early on.
Supposedly in the 80s/90s, Marlon Brando would give a director 2 readings of a character, if the director chose the wrong one, he’d “phone in” the performance.
Heck, Hunter S. Thompson made a career out of letting his fans take over the speaking tours, inviting them to sit onstage and talk instead of shouting things over his monologue from the audience. Sometimes they’d babble on for over 20 minutes while Hunter nodded.
I saw Hunter S. Thompson at Montana State University in the 80s.He was sitting down with a can of Rainier beer the whole time, taking questions. But he called on me. I don’t remember my question.
It was probably technically illegal to have that beer on campus. That’s why we all needed flasks and stuff for concerts.