I don't mind a bit of improvisation at live concerts (and in some cases, it can actually make for some fairly cool versions of songs), but I wouldn't want them to stray too far. Mark Knopfler (of Dire Straits)
said something about that in one of his live performances - He commented something like when recording the intro to Brothers In Arms, the initial few notes didn't come out quite as intended, but he tries to play it
like that in live concerts because the music people listen to tends to become a sort of soundtrack for our life, with memories we associate
with it, etc.. I'm paraphrasing, but his idea was that he didn't want to stray far from the songs people know and love and come to see him
perform.
I can appreciate that, for sure. For me, though, I prefer a higher degree of going into unknown territory - it makes every show a unique experience. I'm a huge Jimi Hendrix fan and he never played his songs more than once the same way. In a totally different genre, I've always been into Dave Matthews Band and similarly, they go off in different directions on each performance, which I find to be a ton of fun.
But I also know people into that kind of music have an expectation that this is what will take place. As this is my preference, I recall going to see Kings of Leon in Colorado in an open-air venue on a night that was super cold and rainy. They were covered but the audience was getting soaked. The band just played their songs exactly like the records, and everyone in the crowd was cranky already, and I left feeling really pissed, like I could have just listened to the record at home, comfortably, lol.
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