phish30sux, do you also go on Fall '97 shows and comment:

"let me guess, the tweezer jam repeated itself obnoxiously for 20 minutes, before trey played a bunch of power chords. I sure wish it was '93"

and then do you go on '93 shows and comment

"trey played the chromatic scale for a while before trilling a bunch while fishman kept the beat awkwardly. I sure wish it was '89"

?

This is just how Phish jams nowadays, so deal with it.

Oh and you were wrong, ghost was nothing like that. Listen to the show before you post this nonsense.

The first set's nicely constructed, although nothing particularly stands out, so we can move on from that quickly. The second set takes something of a weird turn after BOAF (which sounded awkward coming out of the end of Ghost - I get "take 'em down then build 'em up", but BOAF's intro is as abrupt as Light's is) and doesn't quite recover, although the groove they lock into in Tweezer is powerful and certainly worth hearing, as is the peekaboo segue into Julius, and @thedeviousgelatin covered Suzy.

The main draw here, though, is CDT -> Ghost (that is a ->, .net, just as much as Tweezer -> Julius is), with the former exploring some darker space (kinda like Randall's, but with a minor key instead) and then sliding into a melodic, mellow groove before puddling to a spacey close and ever so gently inching its way into Ghost. And the Ghost ticks the last box for Ghosts in 2014 (Chicago got "massive noise demon" and MPP got "headbanging party") with a utterly gorgeous jam thanks to Page taking over and steering the band into more optimistic waters. Was this enough to make the show a classic? Nah. Is the segment absolutely worth hearing? For sure.

By the way, I think @phish30sux's comments are extremely valuable, because no matter how annoyed you get when people fluff 3.0 (myself included, for sure), just remember that the alternative - pissy, entitled jaded vet whining - is ONE MILLION TIMES WORSE.

Just gave the whole show a run through and I can understand why people might have mixed feelings.

On the one hand, there were definitely a lot of miscues (see Heavy Things, Stealing Time, BOAF, Suzy). Especially weird given that these are hardly the most precision-demanding Phish songs.

That said, I would suggest that these miscues were actually dealt with really well by the band, who didn't seem to get too hung up on them (as far as I could tell from listening to the audio via the LP app all the way over here in the UK). Perhaps Trey's remarks regarding missing changes vs energy in Bittersweet Motel would apply here. To my ears, last night witnessed some truly great Phish music.

In the 1st set, the Stash is fiery. Limb x Limb and Waiting All Night both very well executed. And Wombat was really, really nice (NB: I love Wombat).

2nd set CDT > Ghost is very nice. And while I this Tweezer could have been allowed a bit more time to roam the freezer, I thought the transition into Julius was novel and very well executed. Even the Suzy, with its off-kilter start (noted by Fish), saw Trey applying some slick new licks, which Page subsequently echoes.

Hardly a legendary show, but far from a bad one. While I might not throw the whole show on in the future, there are definitely songs I will be listening to again.

I might even give it another spin now...

So having been at the show, let me describe the place first. Looking left there is a steep hill that wraps around to the back (imagine red rocks with Southern California trees) and to the right you look over santa barbara over the ocean. It is beautiful! You can go to a flat section on top where you look at the barges and there is plenty of room to dance or get your head straight. So let's talk music.

I can't talk song by song here as I'm on my phone in the hotel and I will relisten later. I can talk energy and song selection though. Stash opener was sick. Everyone was stoked all the way through Waiting All Night. Band and audience seemed hooked up. Yarmouth seemed to drop enthusiasm but I needed a beer anyway since my 3 year old kicked one over. On the way back from the beer stand came Circus, and it was pretty and I thought the following banter was hilarious. Crowd needed a little reconnect. I was really hoping for something that would play off the story. Maybe Makisupa. Looking back maybe that NICU was a prequel (... when my life was a haze). Alas Heavy Things! We will skip that discussion. Stealing time brought it all back and a short set was over. Mostly good but disjointed by a few selections.

Looking at the second set I can see why that asshole at the bottom who reviewed the show without listening would think it was no good. I can't, on the other hand understand why you would review or even rate without listening. That makes you a cerrified snobby asshole in my opinion. We all know shows are very different. I have a feeling that people that listen to it will be bringing the ratings up. Right off the bat a huge Chalkdust killed it. Just rock at its best for probably 15-20 minutes and straight into ghost! Sick. They were on fire! I was not upset by BOAF at all although the ending was a little rushed. I think trey initiated the ending and then commented on the weirdness. It was weird then the commentary was weird.. it was awkward but .. WOMBAT. Had to have that! Great song and great placement. Tweezer Julius Piper... we'll just say my legs felt like the end of the Dick's 12 run from dancing with my daughter in arms. I don't know but I was having a blast. Wading could arguably cool it down but I didn't think it belonged tbere. Maybe SOAM. Go weird or go home. Then Suzy was also a lot of fun. Encore I thought was high energy and everyone left smiling.

I don't understand hating on this stuff. There were some awkward moments. A few miscues. But great songs in the first and second sets and some really high points. Limb by limb was so unbelievably well placed and we'll played I can't even describe it. Chalkdust ghost. If anyone got that kind of playing a few years ago it would have been a highlight show. Anyway on a scale of 2-3 I give it a 2.8. Happy tour everyone!

I was couch touring deez chips. Take that as you will.

This was a great show that had some flubs. Chalk Dust Torture is a must hear. Ghost is a must-hear (best since Randalls maybe?). Wombat is a must-hear. Tweezer is a must-hear. Boogie is a must-hear. That's a lot of must-hears! Yes, there were some sloppy moments, and yes, Trey was right, the ending of BOAF sucked. But in the end, who gives a shit? Trey? No! Me? HELL NO!

Seriously though, a show with 5 must-hear jams is a 5 star show if ya ask me. And I mean it, they really are must-hears. CDT went smoothly through unchartered waters. And Ghost was wonderful and arguably the most unique one of the year. Wombat dove head on into some ballsy bumping magic as soon as the jam began. This is actually probably my favorite version (I understand why most people would put 7/18/14 above this one but I actually prefer this one). The Tweezer Jam quickly brought us through some ill unique territory as well, with a really cool transition into Julius. And the Boogie encore was tight! A short encore jam, but very grooving and mooving and sweeping and swooping. Mainly because of how sick those 5 were, I disagree with some of the less-flattering reviews. This show was the shit!

The opera fan who listens to his dog fart for 30 seconds before attending the opera doesn't enjoy the opera any less. Think about that.

Boy, do I have some conflicting feelings about this show...

After attending the tour openers in Eugene and Seattle, I watched this show from the comfort of my living room thanks to a fittingly intimate webcast from this very intimate venue. Where the previous two shows were exercises in precision with only a few precious moments of inspired jamming (Eugene Crosseyed, anyone?), this show featured some bold jamming early in the second set, but suffered from a string of flubs and miscues that really detracted from the experience overall.

The show looks like it started off strong on paper with a Stash opener, but the tempo was a little slow, which may have been a deliberate choice by the band. Knowing that, I expected them to construct a masterpiece of tension with soaring peaks akin to the best 90s versions (and a couple of exciting first-set readings this year). Instead, though, they quickly abandoned the jam and moved along to standard readings of both Possum and Ocelot that both stayed very much in the box. Is that inherently an issue, though? Unlike some fans who crave a return to the exploratory approach to first sets from the late 90s and the flub-and-jam 2.0 era, I have no problem with a varied first set that stays mostly in the box. There are certain songs that excel in this format (cue NICU), so I think it works when they play those songs well. Unfortunately, a by-the-book first set was the least of this show's issues.

Starting with Back on the Train, this first set took on an entirely different complexion. It's difficult to put my finger on a specific issue without a second listen, but it sounded like the band began to lose its footing and stumbled a bit down the stretch as the truncated jam reached its conclusion. They recovered nicely with the newer, less frenetic material (Waiting, Yarmouth) and dusted off that wonderful Los Lobos cover, but stumbled again -- hard this time -- during Heavy Things. Unfortunately, that stumble led to a complete faceplant during Stealing Time, which featured one of the most disjointed intros in recent memory. Thanks to the clarity of the webcast, it was easy to see the frustration on Trey's face and hear it in his voice as the band rounded out a typically lean reading to close the set.

I had high hopes that the second set would be all about redemption and, for a while, it seemed that would be the case. After a surprisingly short setbreak, the band emerged rejuvenated and kicked into a set-opening Chalk Dust that kept a very deliberate pace, on par with the 29-minute set-opening masterpiece from Randall's Island this summer. As the jam immediately took off into deep space, the band coalesced in a way that had completely escaped them during the first set. As that incredible jam gave way to a truly inspired Ghost, it seemed that the band had completely regained their footing and would sprint to the finish line, relegating tonight's show to the "tale of two sets" category so common to this era.

Sadly, though, that premonition turned out to be premature. As the Birds jam floundered, Trey tried to signal the band that he was about to pull the ripcord and finish the song, but Fish didn't get the memo. The botched ending was yet another missed step in a night that featured many and immediately took me out of the experience. To be fair, the band took a mulligan and replayed the ending again on its own (to show they could get it right, I suppose), but while Page tried to shift focus and engage the intimate crowd in baseball talk, Trey decided to chime in with a comment about the ending that drew even more attention to a mistake that would have otherwise been a minor footnote.

The band had another chance to deliver redemption by way of a second-set Wombat that could have been on par with the great type-II Chicago version, and while that seemed possible for a brief moment when the jam took a dark left turn, the band -- perhaps conscious of their flubs -- instead dialed it back to a compact finale. Tweezer would allow another opportunity, and while the jam did deliver some fine improv in the form of a wonderful repeated arpeggio, it was ultimately too little, too late. Trey managed to eek out a decent -> segue to a truncated Julius, but an abbreviated Piper and a lethargic Velvet Sea seemed to seal the fate of this show. The final flub during the Suzy intro seemed like a fitting finish line blooper on a night where, despite some very inspired moments, sure footing was hard to come by.

For the sake of rigor, I will say that Boogie On was a strong encore and featured a brief-but-exciting tension-filled jam that eventually led to perfunctory Tweezer Reprise. After a strong show, Reprise seems like a welcomed exclamation point; however, after tonight, it seemed more like a compulsory send off.

I am fully aware of the "webcast bias" and I will admit that my review should probably be taken with a grain of salt. Having just had the time of my life at a couple of average-great-but-oh-so-rare Pacific Northwest shows, I know how easy it is to turn off the critical mind when you are there in person. I am sure all 4,562 people lucky enough to land tickets to this show had the time of their lives seeing Phish in such an intimate venue and no amount negativity from those of us stuck on the couch will change that. After all, isn't that why we travel across the country to see them year after year?

So, y'know, it was an off night. No big deal. I probably won't re-listen to the show any time soon. If you do, fair warning: there are a few of cringe-worthy moments that will take you out of it in a big way. But, hey -- the tour is young and there's still a lot of magic to be had. You can't let one rough night get you down. Onward!

Oh and I also wonder if @phish30sux gobbles doses and sees 10 shows a year with all his friends like he did 15 years ago. Phish isn't allowed to change but you can right? Dumb.

I don't think anyone would argue 3.0 is better than 2.0 or 1.0 but there's a helluva lot of great material. And in every era Phish did not slay EVERY SHOW. Get real, brah.

Countless pockets of gorgeous defined this, my 66th show since 1992. The band's relaxed and confident exploration allowed disconnects to blossom into beauty and blossoms to grow into majesty. I was drilled by the music, enjoying its afterglow this morning in the Santa Barbara sunshine.

Chalkdust>ghost was thrilling and mesmerizing. Over and over. And I loved the birds of a feather, a song I wouldn't normally seek, because they played it with a loose-tight undulating jazziness. A highlight version. Wombat is a weird song that takes--and delivers with--chutzpah. A beautiful and different Tweezer picked up the continual discovery jamming where CDT>Ghost left off, and Julius provided a vaudvilluan interlude, which Page had to resuscitate a few times.

There's nothing like being there for a tweeprise, and this one packed a punch.

Such beauty. Flubs aside (they certainly didn't dwell on them) the band jammed with open ears and interplay, consistently in the zone. Looking forward to tonight!

This show is so unjustly shat upon. It is even ranked lower than Seattle, which quite frankly blows my mind. But it makes for an interesting little case-study in how fan conjecture* and expectations contribute to the perception of a show.

By this time in the tour the .net forum was in disarray. Countless threads declaring Fall ’14 a bust and endless arguments found therein had left the forum in shambles. The tour was not living up to expectations. The sky was falling. The tour was only 2 shows old… Somehow a combination of arbitrarily high expectations carried over from Fall ’13 and the hype for an exclusive West Coast tour apparently left the band no room for anything less than a nightly Hampton 3, 2013. It was time for a change, but was it to come in the balmy weather and scenic views of the Santa Barbara Bowl?

According to the rating this show has, no. I say that’s horseshit. Some might say I’m making too much a fuss over an already broken ratings system, but even if I agreed that the ratings system was completely dysfunctional I’d still say this show is rated too far outside the norm to ignore. This show is at least as good as Eugene which was a fairly well received show.

For anyone who loves 7.27.14, you gotta admit that 10.21’s Chalkdust -> Ghost and Tweezer -> Julius are two far more compelling segues than anything that show has to offer (notwithstanding the awesomeness of Tweezer -> Simple). You could see Ghost coming from a mile away much like Sand -> Ghost from Dick’s ’12. The two segues are quite different, but both share the same patience, oozy-ness, and clearness of direction that makes for “summa dat good shit.” The segue into Julius is distinctly unique and honestly my favorite part of the show.

I’ll leave plenty of room for complaints about the abruptness of Ghost > Birds, but Birds actually contains plenty of compelling jamming. In fact, Birds is not a song I’m normally a fan of, but the playing in this version was actually compelling enough to catch my full attention when I wasn’t paying that close attention in the first place. And that’s coming from the snooty jazz-degree-holding side of me. It was set up to blast into some deep territory when Trey decided to start the ending, which was subsequently botched, but what is there is really Grade A stuff. And let’s be real, there have been far more significant miscues that go completely unnoticed when fans choose not to read into insignificant banter.

There is so much to love in this second set. If the first set were to blame for the credit this show doesn’t receive it would have to be a true train wreck, but it isn’t. I’m just truly perplexed as how little love this show gets. 10.21 isn’t a 4.7er, but it’s far far from a 3.2 as well.

*band infighting was commonly cited as a reason this show lacked quality which I don’t agree with because, well, I don’t think it lacked quality.

I just don't understand all the negativity and hate directed at this show. I was in attendance and really dug it. A lot of shows don't have jamming like the CDT>Ghost does. Who cares if BOAF had a miscue? Trey owned it, they moved on and crushed wombat.

For the record phish30sux, the funk jams of 97 were VERY repetitive. I love em, but they're repetitive. I think your biggest issue is that you're old now, and you don't want anyone taking away from the fact that you saw some great music when you were young, because "you were there" and that somehow makes you cooler. I know plenty of folks that saw phish in the 90s who say they like em more now. And lets be real, they're sure as shit playing better than in 2004, and the scene is way better than it was towards the end of 1.0 and all of 2.0. Try to find time to actually make it to a show and my guess is you'll be quite pleased.

I find all this quibbling about old Phish, new Phish, red Phish, blue Phish to be a bit misguided. But I guess with a name like phish30sux, you're going to have to expect some shit-stirring. Sure, they are not the same band they were in the 90s, but neither am I the same person I was in the 90s. People grow, change, GET OLDER. These dudes are old enough to be grandfathers at this point and they're still out there crushing it. Sure, the jams might not always be as hot every night, nor as iteratively innovative, but they're still a tight unit capable of transcendent moments, which is what keeps us coming back.

Think about what other aging rockers were up to 30 years later. The Dead in the 90s were a shell of their former glorly. There were a few good new tunes, I'll admit, and maybe if Jerry had cleaned up, gone vegan, and hit the gym they could have peaked again, but who knows? Neil was struggling to remain relevant. Dylan had yet to hobble his way back to the top. The Stones? Ha.

Let's just be thankful that Trey got arrested, got a cliff bar and some cold green tea, and made it back to us safely. I was there for 1.0 and, sure, I miss it. But I, personally, am happy it is 3.0, because in between 1.0 and 3.0 came 2.0, which everyone can agree, was miserable.

This was my fifth show...and a show I wasn't even supposed to be at. On a whim I decided to drive down, because why not? So glad I did.

I'll have to give this a second listen through and a little more time to process. The show had a lot of up and down moments...which I'm never a fan of. If you get me dancing my ass off, don't just dump me in a pile of down-tempo "ballad-like" songs. I want to be laid down gently. First set had a bit too much gear shifting for my tastes.

And now that I look at the set...wait...NICU was played? What? Did a blink? It's likely the alcohol that made me miss that...or perhaps it was the multiple missed cues from the band?

At least set one closed out with a heavy hitting Heavy Things and Stealing Time. I seriously was not prepared for the set to be over after those two.

Set two with the CDT opener was great. Fantastic jam--not the good 20+ jam I've been looking for all summer and now all fall, but I'll take what I can get with the CDT > Ghost. Everyone else here is saying it too--it really was the standout of the night. And thank God for that Tweezer too. No, nothing will ever live up to notable Tweezers of the past, but for a night that the band saw multiple miss cues, it at least did not disappoint.

The close through encore made me think the band wanted someone to get pregnant tonight...because I dunno, probably just me (and the alcohol) that was thinking some of those jams were just straight sex. I'm hoping someone was inspired and got laid...

Tonight was absolutley Page's night. He ruled that stage and brought all the jammy jams. Seriously.

Now that it's the night after, I look forward to giving this a second listen and will see what kind of feels I have on listen number two.

Full disclosure: I wasn't at the show and I realize that in the eyes of many around here, that automatically disqualifies me from writing a review but hey, at least I listened to it!

If I could sum up the show in one word it would be "disjointed". That's not necessarily a bad thing as there were moments here that truly made my heart soar. More on that later. It's just that there were also moments where the band didn't seem to be on the same page and these moments were rather glaring. This is nothing new of course, just something that really stood out last night, mostly due to them actually calling themselves out on it.

Oh well. No harm, no foul. But this show did make me wish that Trey would go back to meticulously drafting setlists like he used to. I know, that's selfish as hell and utterly ridiculous.

Anyway, this show was absolutely fire right out of the gate. I mean c'mon, a Stash opener?! Too good. Then a little taste of Plinko in a really fun BOTT? Give me more! Ok, how's a beautiful LxL? I'm in heaven! The inevitable cool down comes with Waiting All Night but I'll be the first to say that I love that tune. I also really like Yarmouth Road too but the placement seems a tad off. I guess they just wanted to shut that drunk in the crowd up. The cool down continued with Circus but it's one of my favorite ballads and covers in the catalog so I'm still happy. That being said, not a fan of Stealing Time in general and surely not as a set closer. All in all a decent set but...disjointed.

CDT->Ghost was the highlight of the night and of this very young tour (with the Eugene C&P coming in as a close second). I have always been a sucker for contrast in music and when they went from the deep deep darkness to more buoyant and crystalline atmospherics, I was hooked. As has already been mentioned the > to BOAF was a bit abrupt but that's mostly due to the nature of the song's intro. Unfortunately, the ending was also a bit scuffed as well. And while I love stage banter, sometimes you don't want to show them how the sausage is made, you know?

Things picked back up with a very welcome Wombat that took a delicious turn into the darkness which also continued through Tweezer. Not a big fan of Julius but that segue sure was nifty and Piper is always a treat for me. Wading is Wading and then another somewhat deflated set closer arrived in the form of Suzy. Once again...disjointed.

BUT! They left us on a high note, the Boogie on Reggae Woman in the first encore slot came with extra mustard and woke me right back at a quarter to midnight! And of course, Reprise always gets the blood flowing. Much to my chagrin I couldn't fall asleep until well after midnight but honestly I wouldn't want it any other way. Looking forward to tonight!

I feel like the middle child when writting reviews of shows. I caught my first phish show in 1994 at age 14, I really began getting into Phish in 1997- present. Each time they play is a blessing to musical appreciation. I caught the first set last night and found it to be a good first set, nothing amazing and nothing lacking. The fact that the Phish style has been altered is true. The dead did it most bands did it, bob dylan the best songwriter IMO did it and hell even the beastie boys who played 4 kinds of generes of music did it. Everyone can speak your piece about this band, I find Phish to be nothing more than interesting experiences of talents combining to form a vortex of sound and feeling. Keep on keeping on and some people need to re- read a chapter of the book.

One love
Palmer.

Phish30sux,

I appreciate where you are coming from and want to give you some love. While I do happen to think quite highly of several of the jams you disparage (Randalls CDT in particular), I too grow tired of the apologists. From a shear economic perspective, there is no excuse for disjointed shows full of miscues. We have made this band rich over the years, to the point where they can play as much or as little as they choose, wherever they choose, and still count on a packed house. $60 a ticket may not be as much as U2 or the Stones commands, but that is real money nonetheless. They have all the time in the world to practice and be sharp (none of the four have any other jobs, right?). I don't think tha,t just because they have been playing for thirty years, Phish is somehow entitled to not work hard for their devoted audience.

It can be a really interesting inner conflict when you are compelled to keep going back to shows, again and again, even when you feel that it is no longer special. Its certainly not what it used to be, thats indisputable. I felt that way in '09, '10, '11, and most of '12. I think that the last few tours have had some tremendous highs. I guess my point is that you have to find a way to reconcile yourself with reality; the band members are in their 40s/50s, and are not the hungry, audacious, bad-ass musicians they were in 93. If you can find enough to celebrate in the longevity and durability they display when they get out on the road now, hopefully the moments of magic, while admittedly more sporadic than in years past, will be enough to make it worth your $60. Thats how I view it. Its a lot like Jeter in his final season; he couldn't play like he used to, no doubt, but his years of hard work earned the nation's respect, and there were still enough of the occasional flashes of greatness to make it worth it. Phish is quite similar in that regard.

On the other hand, if you really can't reconcile yourself to that truth, and leave every show dissapointed at the lack of variety and invention, then perhaps it is time to hang up the spurs, as it were. I still applaud you for speaking your mind on this topic.

phish30sux,

just because one can still appreciate and get down to some 3.0 phish does not make them a "3.0 noob." I think you are greatly underestimating the difficulty to play such a high quality of music FOR OVER THIRTY YEARS!! These dudes are over 50 now, I think if any time is the right time, we should cut them a break if you do not get into a show. We should all rejoice that we love a band that is dedicated enough to still play and come up with new tunes after 30 years. Again, you are welcome to stop listening if the phish does not cut it for you anymore. I hate running into people like this at shows. They invest so much time simply to just complain about the music

The boys started the show like gangbusters. Stash, Possum, Ocelot, NICU, BOTT, Limb by Limb and yes Waiting all Night (I felt like they nailed the vocals) sounded really tight and suggested it was go time. The set continued to sound fine but took a turn nevertheless and never really bounced back to the heavy hittin'.

Set 2 lacked some cohesion and offered up some miscues as previously highlighted but the highs were very high and tremendous fun. Among several others, the crazy fun Wombat was a real highlight. Solid show for us spoiled, spoiled Phish fans. A+ venue...I love going to places that are "like none other". Here's looking for another solid one where perhaps they don't have to make reference to an awkward miscue.

Great first set energy, typical first set music. All of the Set 2 jams were cut short. It was nice that they all HAD JAMS to cut short. Chalkdust was particularly freaky. I like the direction Trey is trying to push here. Piper has some legs too. Please check that one out.

It's the beginning of tour though people. And it's 2014! There's nothing left for them to conquer in 3.0 other than their new material and a potential new sound (freaky, not 2.0 spacey, psychedelia anyone?). We,ll be lucky to see anything major develop before Vegas if at all. Dem Left Coast vibes got everybody laaaaaaid back.

Type ii. I agree and conceded that it's unfair to do that. I couldn't care less if they hit every note either. I really enjoyed most of 2.0 and anyone famiar with that era would agree that the composed portions of songs were very sloppy but their jams went interesting places. I can't think of a single jam since 2009 that is in anyway unique and that includes the Tahoe tweezer and Randall's CDT. Actually dicks simple of this year was old school and very good. My point is that fans today are so uncritical and think everything they do is revolutionary and epic. "Dude that fuego from cmac was better than the fuego from Randall's but not as good as the fuego from Philly". I personally love CDT DWD and carini but do they always have to go in the ii.i slot? And these "jams" today go absolutely nowhere. They are so formulaic! Yes every era, even every tour is different. I just can't stand that this band I grew up with and love lacks everything that made them unique. I had a blast at cmac this year but it was in spite of the music not because of it. They have peaked. Call me a jaded vet but I prefer that to a 3.0 n00b apologist

phish30sux, you should not be posting without even hearing the music..
I would much rather be a person to think the band can do little wrong than to fret everytime there is a missed note. Relax and realize you do not have to associate with yourself with Phish if you dont want to. the negativity found on .net truly amazes me

Fair enough. I shouldn't comment on the music when I haven't heard it. I'm just fed up with the phish apologists who feel this band can do no wrong. They are my favorite but there seems to be a serious lack of set list variety and jamming creativity. Obviously there are exceptions to this in 3.0 but even the top five 3.0 jams don't hold a candle to anything they did in the late 90s. And yes of course this is subjective but anyone around in the 90s has to admit that something is missing. I guess my biggest problem is people on the internet claiming that every show is the greatest show they've ever played. They peaked in 98 and everything post 2009 just seems like a novelty act

First show of my ten show run. Love Phish 3.0 and don't feel the need to defend anything about how they play. The past is the past, live in the now and either enjoy it or find something that stirs your soul and allows you to find some joy in a musical outing with friends and family.

My only thing I'd like to add in regards to this show was at around the 5:48 mark of Chalkdust Torture Trey is playing the melody to Fugazi's Long Division. Coincidence or tease? Is Trey an Ian MacKaye fan? We may never know...

http://youtu.be/FBN2Z3yTKPo

Decent show overall. Outstanding location, great vibes inside and outside, and the venue and the setting were both perfect.

There seemed to be times when they could have further explored but cut it short when there were differing opinions as to direction..should we jam this out?..should we segue into Ghost?..should we tease Tweezer here?....The song placement was odd at times when speaking of flow and continuity as the birds/wombat combo stole any momentum from a promising 2nd set, although I think Wombat is odd ANYwhere. I thought Piper had more legs and was bummed when they didn't truly expand but hey; it's all good.
-side note Let's keep theses reviews about the show, and leave the other stuff for elsewhere.....sound good?

Edison, I totally agree that the scene now is better than it was. And with the exception of Brooklyn and Spac 2004 was awful. But I've been to at least 20 shows since 2009 and Watkins is the only one that I would consider memorable. I'm not saying I don't have a good time at a show b/c I do otherwise id stop going. My problem is what I perceive as uncritical consumption of a band that seems to be going through the motions. Someone on here said that every era if phish had bad shows. That is absolutely true. It used to be though that one or two shows were duds but it could be forgiven because taken as a whole the tour was excellent. Now the reverse seems to me to be true. You have a mediocre tour with one or two great shows thrown in. I know I come off as pissy and jaded and I'm ok with that because it's honest unlike a lot of the bullshit I see in these reviews

Moonface, the fact that I dosed at shows then and now is irrelevant. I love that phish is constantly reinventing themselves. However I feel that since their return they have sounded, to use Treys words, like caricatures of themselves. Like I said before, there are, thankfully, exceptions to this. But they are rare. And I can't buy in to the beginning of the tour excuse for sloppy, uninspired playing. Look at 7/21/97 or the island tour. They were sharp right from the get go. My point all along is they aren't creative anymore. Their lyrics sound like they were written by a prepubescent goth kid (though phish has never been known for their lyrics). Their jams, what they are known for, are canned. The Randall's CDT, that fluffer circle jerk, put me to sleep. If you want a type ii CDT look at 7/10/99 or IT. Of course the band will always evolve and some won't like the current sound, but their playing lacks inspiration and creativity. I'd get on board the fluff train if they at least would mix things up a bit more. It just seems like one rip chord after another lately

For those that said CDT>Ghost was great, what fucking show are you listening to? Seriously b/c it sounded like every other ghost I've heard in the past four years so maybe you confused it with another version. Please see my earlier review because I called it before even listening. Obnoxious over use of the clavinet followed by aimless wandering to an awkward shift to a major key and then an even more awkward "segue". Throw in the fact that they fucked up the second "I feel I never told you" section yet again( something hey haven't got right since they've been back). That CDT sounded like every one they've played since they started taking it " type ii". You fluffers are ridiculous. Can't wait to listen to 10/22, which I'm sure will be a legendary follow up to this legendary show.

Haven't listened to the show nor do I really care to as I assume it sounds virtually identical to every other show in 2014. Hey, do you think Trey realizes that they have other songs at their disposal other than DWD, Carini, and CDT to fill the ii.i spot? Jesus. Mix it up. I get it. You played a great (for 3.0) version of CDT in that slot over the summer. Whatever happened to variety. Let me guess, ghost featured an obnoxious use of the clavinet and then quickly shifted to a major key until an awkward transition. I really miss the late 90's