Different strokes - I want to hear a band change things up a bit (or even a lot!). If I want to listen to the recorded version I can do that. I want to hear what they can do to shake things up and show off their talents. Playing it straight is boring, IMO.
That said, I do think some of Dylan's live recordings were just change for the sake of change. Love Dylan, but some of those are just weird, like he got bored and just decided to do something,
anything.
I also hate the forced standing ovation and planned encore. It used to be you had to
earn the SO and encore requests, and then the encore was often something way outside the normal repertoire, a chance for the artist to maybe show off a different side. They approached it like, OK, you got your money's worth for the show, now just a little icing on the cake. But now, it's just part of the show.
I recall seeing a Grammy award winning trumpet player at a local college show. I forget his name offhand, but a top talent, and the show was fantastic. His last song, he just threw everything into it, it was amazing, full of energy and lots of fast. high notes - really stretching it. I felt embarrassed that the crowd wanted an encore - couldn't they see he just gave it all he had?
Heck, I saw Ian Anderson a while back - the papers reviewing the tour announce that they do 'Locomotive Breath' as the encore on this tour. So much for spontaneity.
-ERD50