Getting what we expect out of legends is a tough one to calculate. From my perspective, if they stay too familiar I get bored and too adventurous I wonder if they know why fans showed up in the first place.
Two extremely different crowds attended the L.A. shows of AC/DC and Wayne Shorter this week and both audiences were treated to two extremely different types of shows. AC/DC did what was expected of them. Shorter, whose concert was billed as a 75th birthday celebration, did a show that was like nothing else he had done before this year.
The New York Times weighed on both of these acts when they performed in New York, opining that any critical re-examination of the Aussie rockers is a futile exercise and that Shorter reinforces the notion that he as the greatest living composer and improviser in jazz.
The one bonding factor here, if you follow my logic, is the trademark sound: Angus Young's guitar and Shorter's tenor and soprano saxes. That's what the fans want to hear
I contend that if the musicians can express themselves in a way that's familiar and challenging, they succeed; if they do one or the other, only half the picture is painted and it's up to critics to fill in the thermometer chart on how well they presented themselves.
Next question: should both of these musicians be held to the same standard? I say yes. This where the division of music into good and bad comes in. Ardent supporters of these two styles lament the lack of a new wave of acts capable of displaying the power and mettle of these performers. It extends across the board: the musicianship, the songwriting, the stage presence and interplay among the band, which makes me believe there is common bar they should clear.
More than ever it feels as if the best of our living legends have ascended to a unique place due to the lack of performers doing what their predecessors did. It's why Prince, Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan remain so vital: Energy and integrity are key components of every show and their audiences return time and time again for the performer to deliver a moment of truth that doesn't repeat what was said at an earlier show.
It's perfectly acceptable that AC/DC does the same show every night and Shorter repeated for L.A. an evening first staged at Carnegie Hall. They work as snapshots. They linger in the memory until the the next time they come around, at which point I hope changes are in store. That's what keeps music thriving. Acts that don't change and try to return to the same markets with the same show find themselves looking at empty seats. Wanting to deliver "hits" and nothing else results in audience fatigue.
Why was the Journey-Heart-Cheap Trick triple bill so successful this year? They were reaching for a brass ring while simultaneously delivering "Don't Stop Believin'" and  "Magic Man," performing as if there is more to come down the road. Just like Wayne Shorter, just like Angus and Malcolm Young.
Next up is Fleetwood Mac, which has reconvened sans Christine McVie as they did in 2003. (No word yet on whether they will again hire six musicians to fill out the sound).  That tour, though, was on the heels of the "Say You Will" album and nightly the Mac would perform between five and eight new tunes.
This tour, which only has East Coast dates announced, is already being pitched as a greatest hits revue. Christine's absence was viscerally felt on the last go-round; when the program is all hits, it seems like that void would only be magnified. An FM hit parade without "Little Lies," "Over My Head" and "Say You Love Me," in my book, can't be done. And at the same time, it needs to be different from the "say You Will" tour  - a different snapshot of a band in a different time. That way, those of us who attend the concert can hold onto our belief that Fleetwood Mac is one of the greatest rock bands ever, the same way AC/DC's fans must feel after this tour that integrates five new songs from "Black Ice" into the show.    

AC/DC and Shorter were concerts 95 and 96; cathing the Imani Winds takes me to 251 acts seen this year. Four shows to go to hit the goal.