those guys have been playing every song like 200 times...
what im saying is...even if you played the entire set 50 times perfectly...if you listen to recordings of the first times, they will prolly sound weaker...and if you keep practicing them another 50 times, they will get better...so if you listen to recording 51 it will again sound weaker than recording 102 :)
but ... some people tend to write 20 songs, practice them forever...then they get bored by their own songs, write new ones, practice them until they get again bored, write new songs again...so they get stuck in this eternal "we can do better " loop
im thinking...playing a song live will help you discover what needs work a 100 times quicker than playing it over and over again in the rehearsal room...
especially considering what has been said earlier about the audience (which are no musicians) ...
sometimes you practice a song for years until you can play it perfectly, finally presenting it to the audience to blow them away...only to find out that this particular song is the most boring number they ever heard and a good excuse to get a beer :)
i'm not saying write music to please others...this approach prolly wont work...if you really feel you must play a certain piece live, go ahead. but if its just a song thats technically challenging...prolly no one will care you play the most sophisticated ish if the song doesnt kick some serious butt...so sometimes its best to just throw out a song that no one wants to hear...use it to practice...but dont wait to go on stage until you can play everything you ever wanted to play...that will be never !
just my opinion :)
