[SillyDreamer]

Originally Posted by dissention

It was cringeworthy on The Dance tour. Their voices matured to the point where it was incredibly strenuous for them to even try harmonizing on that song. It was fun to hear, but in regards to harmonies, it was barfugly.

I think that it's reactions like this that make them so wary of bringing out unexpected songs on tour more often.

It's common knowledge that their voices were in better shape in the late 70's than in the late 90's. Even though we know a lesser-played song may not sound as pristine in concert nowadays as it did when they messed around with it and put it on a "live" album twenty years ago, we still enjoy hearing it because it's a break from the Dreams, Rhiannons, and--lest we forget--the drum solos.

It should also be considered that, if they had never played Dreams live until 1997, we would probably think that the harmonies were "cringeworthy" as well. But because it's been drilled into our heads at every concert since 1977, we're used to it. More elusive gems, such as "Farmer's Daughter," don't have the advantage of being ridiculously overplayed, so it's more jarring when we hear it every 20 years instead of every 2.

We are all entitled to our opinion, but I for one am more willing to forgive them a little in the harmony department because I don't want a setlist of all the songs they're comfortable with (read: the same songs we've been hearing every concert for a quarter century).