I agree the third night felt a little lackluster, especially when compared to the 2nd night, which was my favorite. And I like the "Ripcord Trey" nickname...

I want to comment in on the improvisational style we're seeing, because I think (and my drummer agrees) that it's a little different from 09 and 10. Some have actually started calling it Phish 4.0. (Seriously, in the parking lot after 2nd night, that was going around). I wouldn't go that far, but I was calling it 3.2 before that. Either way, it seems to be an upgrade has taken place since I last saw the boys.

One thing I noticed is Trey seems to be getting bolder stepping out of key during jams (see the BDTNL jam for example) which is something they used to do more in the early-mid 90's, but never did quite as cleanly as this. The difference now is, they are staying locked into eachother, and getting back into key simultaneously, at the exact right moment, and making it all resolve properly. They are getting more consistent with this (extremely difficult) improvisational trick, and they are having a lot of fun with these jams.

I would like to have seen MORE daring improvisational exploration, but compared to what I saw in 09 an 10, what I saw saturday night was a major step in the right direction. I hope the trend continues as the tour progresses.

Technically, It appears that they are stepping up the tightness as well (listen to that Bowie!) while trying to maintain the freedom and keep things fresh. (Perfect execution alone is, well, boring). In their maturity, they are finally mastering some of the improv stuff they were TRYING to do (but not executing properly) back in the 90's. Well, the execution was DEFINITELY there at Bethel. They are older, so the energy and creativity is going to be a little harder to come by. But when it all comes together, look out! And I think it did a couple of times this weekend.

My biggest musical complaint is Trey couldn't seem to get his voice box warmed up. He was wavering and struggling to hold notes on Free, in particular. And I agree that some of those tunes felt like they were just going through the motions. That is a high crime as far as I'm concerned. I barely even remember that MFMF, I think they played it correctly, but... did they really play it?

As a musician, I think when you're younger, bolder, and more reckless, and you take more musical risks, the payoff can be immense when it works, but you're also more likely to just create awful noise. When you get older you start appreciating subtlety and 'the space between the notes' a little more. Their sound becomes more consistently good, accessible, and musically clean. But they also sacrifice some of the wild creativity that made them my favorite band in the 90s.

The good news from Bethel, for me anyways, is that I see this trend actually starting to reverse itself, and they seem to be reaching back for a little bit of that wildness and trying to fuse it in with their newer, more mature and subtle musical sensibilities. This manifests especially during jams on the newer material, which is why even though I don't think BDTNL is a particularly brilliant song, I'll always be happy to hear it at a show because I know the jam is likely to be sick nasty. That's what they want to play, and that's their direction right now. We're probably not going to get another 1200 BPM turbo-Llama like the one from Denison U '92, but the Phish of '92 could/would not have played that ridiculous BDTNL jam either. (Who knows, maybe).

Bottom line, I like where this is going and I want more. Go Phish Go! Don't be scared to fuck up a jam, play what's in your hearts and damn the consequences!

Just my stupid opinions.

And one more thing: Fish is on fire. Can't wait for Blossom and the rest of the tour (hitting 10 shows this summer OH YEAH)