Live Performances

What I value most about live concerts is the connection one feels, in common with the performer, over the music. Last Thursday, I attended the Chamber Singers concert. Choir piece are not my favorite to learn, or to sit through, but I found this concert transfixing. The sound of the Chamber Singers captivated the audience and drew in our interests, even though we did not understand the words to the majority of the pieces. It was a collaboration of artists and an expression of feeling that everyone can relate to.
It does not matter what the genre of the music, because the same energy is put into any performance. It is the kind of thing that takes raw energy and talent, and a lot of confidence. Live performances are the only place were a group of people gather and simultaneously feel the same bursts of emotions. This is what makes live performances better than recordings. The listener feels isolated with a recording; a live performance is successful based on the audience present.
I feel that the most important aspect of live performances is the connection it gives to fans that cannot happen anywhere else. The best thing about music as a business is that one is successful based on the opinions of other people, and if music was not performed live, it would not be very easy to form that opinion.