I want even riskier choices, even if they "flop". The thing is with a lot of the more challenging songs, I believe the fan hype would overwhelmingly compensate for whatever perceived lack of substance Hansi/the others feel there will be.
Take Battlefield for example. It's consistently been one of the top google search results pertaining to the band, in individual song titles at least. This means there's massive casual appeal to the song (for obvious reasons, Robot Unicorn Attack) which means crowd backing could be that much more reliable. The response to Battlefield suddenly coming over the speakers live would be mental, the crowd would likely be
louder than the band at times (if you've watched recent videos of the Brazilian tour, this is no uncommon thing
) and I believe there's no reason Hansi can't simply do what he does for Mirror Mirror - immense, passionate, magnum opus as it is, he hardly hits any of the notes in the song anymore. It's a rather dull affair vocally in a live setting. Battlefield could be relegated to such a spot, though I'd probably regret suggesting this years down the line.
Nonetheless, the lack of Battlefield especially comes with weak excuses. I remember their excuse during the 2003 tour pertained to Thomen having an injured hand or something of that nature - OK, check this amateur Youtube drummer out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I74Bua3XGag
Is there any reason to believe Thomen could not pull that off once recovered? I'm no drummer but a kid recorded the song flawlessly in his bedroom one afternoon five years ago. The song
isn't impossible. And Then There Was Silence was supposed to be the impossible song, and look how it turned out. Still dull at times live (vocally) but a staple nonetheless and one I will always look forward to hearing and singing along to.
Maybe I've overly critical, but I think their adherence to playing it safe so consistently is misguided. Fans will recognize When Sorrow Sang, Follow the Blind, A Dark Passage, The Holy Grail, etc.
When Sorrow Sang, there's actually a recording of it on YouTube -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kL0sBe_OIVg there are few known recordings of it live - and while it isn't phenomenal, it was also recorded during a time where they hadn't quite musically come in to their own shoes. They hadn't really had time to muster a true sense of confidence over the more demanding and complex songs, and crowd participation was at a minimum due to the (relative) newness of the song. (You could also blame the recording quality.) Hansi also makes quite a few mistakes with timing, there are seemingly tons of leads missing at various points. They still pulled it off, and it isn't half-bad even with shit recording quality. If they went back to it today I believe it could be on par with Time Stands Still, easily.
And what of Noldor, Road of No Release, The Throne? All songs Hansi has repeatedly expressed in interviews he has an interest in re-capturing live. He even went as far as to say listening to Noldor for the first time in years was impressive to him. It's as if their ambition is limited to the studio kitchen sometimes..
But, they play more than half of their discography live, right? And the setlist changes every night? Still more than I can say for a lot of bands, but they're also my favorite band, and I want to hold them to the highest standard in every regard. Dream Theater used to utilize the kind of setlist variety I enjoy, dunno if they still do, but that's what I'm looking for. It's professionalism, versatility, and respect for a dedicated fanbase. Not pretending bits of your band's history don't exist.
hah, I was saying that the other day. Everything is so meanless, yeah it isn't a word but it sounds great for the song. I also thought maybe he was saying meaningless very fast or in a different way.
The more you know... 
I feel 18 songs should be minimum on this tour since some shows have gotten 20 song sets. 
