Yeah, but Scotty, I think the thing you have to remember is that Images and Words and Awake still rank as favorites from older and newer fans alike. Those albums, for the majority of Dream Theater fans, almost always fall in the top 4 of anyone's list, no matter who you ask. That, and every night Dream Theater play, I'd guess that the majority of the crowd have not seen Dream Theater more than twice.
I'm not saying DT HAVE to play ALL those songs per night, but if it were my first time seeing DT as it was last year I'd have be sorely disappointed if I had seen one of those shows where, like a few on the last tour, there was NO pre-Scenes material AT ALL.
Sure Mike spoiled us fans but he was falling off, as most people who try and do it all eventually would. There were some shows, like I said, where there was NO pre-Jordan material played. Now if he were leaving room to debut new stuff, I'd say that's cool. I love the new stuff. Bring it on! Play all new stuff, and just encore with one or two old classics. I'm cool with that. Unfortunately, that's NOT what's been happening.
Case and point: Constant Motion, a song which almost everyone is sick of and has never really been that loved anyway, skyrocketted to one of the top most played Dream Theater songs ever this year.
Constant Motion, in the last three years, has been played more frequently than the following songs have been since they've been released: More than most of WDADU, half of Awake, half of Falling Into Infinity, half of Scenes, ALL of SDOIT, ALL of TOT Except As I Am, ALL of 8va except Panic Attack, ALL of SC, MORE than ANY Black Clouds song.
Even on the Black Clouds tour, Constant Motion was played more frequently than Black Clouds' single, "Wither." Constant Motion also ranked the 6TH most frequently played song on the BC&SL tour. What is up with that???
So, sure, I appreciate what Mike's done for us fans, even though I didn't get a chance to see most of the best stuff he did. But am I sad that he's not going to making the setlists anymore? Honestly, not really. Actually, not at all, if what's gone on the past two albums' tours was any indication of what the future would be like. I'm sorry, but on festivals most bands give fans the classics to make up for short setlists. Instead, we got some shows where there were NO classics and songs like Constant Motion rammed down our throats for the 150th (literally) time.