It's not unlike George Strait, which is probably the most boring concert I've ever been to. I love his music but if you've heard the studio album there's absolutely no need to see him live.
in fact sometimes I'm a bit upset when I hear a performance of one of my favorite songs in concert that is butchered live in an attempt to do something different
My semi-educated guess is that's very intentional, probably to avoid the chagrin FF describes. Strait's band Ace In The Hole are mostly all from San Marcos and most still live around there. One of my guitarist friends lived with his organist while I was there (he also owned the town's driving range, 'cuz I guess making $1500 per show with an average of 100 dates per year for George in 2006 wasn't enough money for him), and I met his pianist through recording work we were both hired for (who I always remembered for that bright red shirt he wore in the Pure Country movie), so I got to know them a bit and play with them here and there. Those guys can play, but they gave me the vibe that the songs are the songs and what's the point in messing around with the song, the people came to hear the song they know. I never met George, but he strikes me the same way. Probably thinks that messing around with the song is silly and it's not what people come to hear.
I don't mind when a band does something different, particularly when the songs are older and they've been playing them for decades. Spice it up a little bit. Have fun with it. Don't make it unrecognizable, but throw a few curveballs in there just to grab the audience's attention. If it's a current song that's on the radio, or something like that, then I'd probably rather they just play it the way it sounds on the recording, if they're able. I'd rather songs age a little bit before they get tinkered with.
