I recently spent a couple of days in London. I was very excited to see on of my favourite musicians and singers Mr. Neil Sedaka. I have loved him since I happened across his music when I was 10 or 11 years of age and was thrilled to get the opportunity to see him live. In fact thrilled to see him a-live! At 75 years of age I thought I better get to see him sooner rather than later!

Accompanied by my Sedaka virgin friend we went to see him in the Royal Albert Hall. Neil did not disappoint! For approximately 2 hours he played a combination of his old and new material. He sang like an angel and entertained the entire audience with his music and banter.

Over the last two years I have been to 4 big concerts; Rhianna, Beyonce, Dolly Parton and Neil Sedaka. What struck me was how significantly different the new and old guard were. Here were some of my learnings:

* Neil and Dolly made the concert about the audience. They spoke to the audience, interacted and told stories. They connected with us and gave time to chat with the people who had turned up to see them perform.

* Rihanna and Beyonce made the concert about themselves. They barely spoke to the audience (I dont think Beyonce even said the typical “hello Dublin”). They did not engage with the audience in any way other than the performance itself

* Neil and Dolly played their classic hits the whole way through the concert. Beyonce denied us all the pleasure of some of her classic tunes and as a result for the majority of the concert the audience half sang along to her new tunes that we did not really know. While Neil and Dolly gave us a healthy dose of their golden oldies mixed in with their new songs like a beautiful heady music cocktail!

I love experiencing other peoples creativity, especially people who are extreemly skilled and talented at what they do. These experiences reminded me again that it is not just about creating material that is good, great or amazing but also about creating an experience that people feel engaged by. That is when change and creativity really come alive!