I think we knew that when MP left, there would be the possibility of a sterile (same) setlist. And it could potentially be a problem if you attended multiple shows, or collected bootlegs. And trust me, I certainly understand that.
But as a fan that only sees DT when they come to Boston, at the end of the day, I don't give a shit what they played in Philly or New York. In fact, we've been pretty lucky as far as past setlists go in Boston, because even when MP was putting the setlists together, all setlists were NOT created equal. I would be bummed if another city got a song I really liked but it was omitted from my set. Still the rotating setlists were certainly a romantic feature of following DT.
Admittedly, I missed two of the best tours ('02 & '04), '04, arguably being the band's live peak, with a Zepplinesque qaulity about the shows. But other than that, I've been seeing DT since '92 and this tour was as strong performance wise, as well as audience engaging as I've ever seen.
I sat in the front row dead center for the BC&SL show in Boston and I don't think JP smiled once..ONCE! I sat and saw the show before Score was recorded and the band couldn't have looked less interested in playing the show, especially the onstage bickering between MP and JLB during the first set.
Ironically, the most happy the MP era lineup seemed was the Worcester show on the summer of 2010. Shit, even JM was visibly into it, of course they were feeding off a MONSTER of a crowd!
Still, the two stops in Boston one the ADTOE tour featured competely different setlists save for BITS, OTBOA, and BAI.
And think of the songs that made the "master" setlist for the entire cycle.
I didn't expect TDEN. I didn't expect 6:00. I didn't expect TROAE. TCOT??
Busting out things like These Walls (which I did expect) and Ytsejam to follow the drum solo..brilliant.
I still think the band could some day miss the sponteniety of MP's performances, but I think that's still a ways away. The band just seems in a good place now.
I am actully expecting an incredible album and tour in 13-'14. Better than '04? I consider DT's '04 tour to be one of the best by ANY band. DT, as they were with MP, were never going to replicate that anyway. That's just my opinion.
But anyway, sorry for the rambling. As I stated earlier in the thread:
The show I saw in Boston on 7/16/12 might have been the best performance that I have ever seen from the band.