@SwampSoul said:

Why take off your "show ears" for "Critical ears"? What's the point? Why does one have to pretend like the energy being sent/received isn't valid? This review lacks the ITness that we all know is present at a show like this.

First, I don't think that the "energy being sent/received" isn't valid. It absolutely is, and that was one of the points I tried to make in this review.

One reason I listen to a show with "different ears" after the fact is that I can't be at a show every night, and Phish doesn't play every night, so sometimes I get to be there live and sometimes I listen to recordings. The recordings affect me differently than being there does. A complimentary example for me is SPAC3. I had far more fun at Portsmouth2 and Charlotte than I had at SPAC3. On tape, though, SPAC3 is far more amazing to listen to than either of those shows.

These recaps primarily focus on the music and not the experience; see From Whence We Recap.