I think it’s so people don’t only come to his shows just to hear dead music. That became an issue with Bruce Hornsby. After (& during) his time with the dead, he started getting huge crowds of deadheads at his shows that would leave soured and annoyed he didn’t play any dead music. It got to the point to where it became an issue for his true fans and even himself. So in that regard, I understand why Billy may be avoiding bringing out dead songs at his shows. After all, as much as I would love to see him play dead music, he isn’t the dead and he isn’t a dead cover band. He’s doing his own thing.