@Live_Eels said:

Though I have yet to attend a show in person yet this tour, I keep up with the reviews pretty regularly. I am amazed at how fast people changed their tone - saying things like "declining", and "getting better is not their concern anymore" - LESS THAN TWO WEEKS after all the crazy hype following the Detroit and Blossom shows, Where things such as "this is the best they've ever sounded" and "they are clearly in their primes" were thrown around regularly.

You are reading "the reviews" as if they all came from a single person who "changed their tune" but really it is different people, talking about different shows, and so will result in different viewpoints depending on the reviewer and the show, yes?

Further it is possible for any single fan to express enthusiasm and praise on a particular show – as noted, I loved large segments of Bethel1, Bethel2, Pine Knob and Blossom, and the Gin > Light up from Tuesday was blistering, among other tour highlights – yet still view the tour as a whole as a) a downgrade on their overall level of play from as recently as last fall and b) filled with far too much air time that is just going through the motions.

As to the "nostalgia act" – that I recognize is a bit of a polarizing hot-botton phrase, given it is what Trey said in his infamous "Letter from Trey" that they never wanted to become – I'm not hearing folks flat out say "Phish is a nostalgia act." It would be incorrect, but I don't hear anyone saying that. JDG, the OP here, said "Wednesday night in Georgia, Phish played like a nostalgia act." He was referencing one show... and goes on to contextualize among the tour as a whole, but that is a lot different than "Phish IS a nostalgia act." They aren't, but they do display hints of being that, at times.

In any case, few if any of the comments seem to suggest any conclusive finality, and anyone who cares enough to be commenting in a thread like this even at the most "negative" is probably hopeful (if not even confident) that things take a turn toward the more risky and innovative and propel us all into a happy Phish future. I know that is where I'm at... I think the band is simply in a mini-funk. YMMV.