@Doctor_Smarty said:

The shows are pieces of a larger puzzle to me. Jaded I am not. I always have a great time...yes even Seattle. Having been to Eugene me Seattle and webcasted both SB shows I needed to discuss them all to explain why SB2 was great.

I found nothing distracting about your musings on the shows leading up to this one and it did, in fact, add valuable context for me and I liked the approach.

Context is the key to appreciation.

If any of us think for one minute that we are not continuously comparing our current Phish experience with past experiences then we are deluding ourselves. How on earth can we honestly say something like (we hear this all the time): "I entered this show with no expectations...." Seriously. If you had no expectations then why buy a ticket? What's the attraction? Randomness? Truly, without a build-up of expectation, there is no excitement or anticipation. If there's no excitement or anticipation then the venues would remain empty because what's the point?

The context provided in this essay was needed in my opinion because the elephant in the room which no-one wanted to talk about was that the early stages of this Fall Tour were MEH at best. This show zapped needed life into the scene and the review articulated that aspect in a constructive and positive manner.