The difference between doing a sound check and doing it for an audience is you get a reaction from the audience. Yeah, they were, actually. Kick, snare, high hats and cymbals are all acoustic. Toms and footpedals are electric with triggers on them for certain sounds. No, there is no secret.
People can write to formulas.
The secret of writing a good song is capturing a moment in time. It's very easy to write a song, it's very difficult to write a hit song. Otherwise, everyone would be doing it. It became All Night. It's a song we may possibly do at some other time.