I hate it when manufacturers do that. I really don't understand why they feel a need to change something that works.
I've had similar problems in the past too. I like Pearl Izumi ultrasensor shorts, but there were a couple of years where I couldn't buy a new pair because they'd changed to cut of the shorts (specifically the front, dropped the top of the short down so low I thought they would fall off!). Luckily they changed them back again, must have had a lot of complaints. And many years ago I used to wear Moving Comfort bras. At some point they changed the cut (or design) and they no longer worked for me. Luckily I found a happy replacement in Champion.
Hope you can find another brand of shorts that works for you. (And maybe you'll be lucky and Performance will "fix" their now broken design.)
--- Denise