@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.
How about we come up with a final verdict when the tour ends?

I understand your point. It reminds me of sports coverage. The Red Sox have a bad week and the Boston press wants to bury 'em, but three wins changes everything. I was at Merriweather and those two shows did not feature a band "in a funk." Do I wish they jammed more in Columbia? Absolutely, but there were more interesting moments in each of those four sets than in both Alpharetta shows combined. Let's see how things play out over the next three shows.

That being said (thanks to Larry David for ruining that phrase), Jeremy had a job to do and that was to share his thoughts on the show. He did so in an intelligent way that led to a lot of insightful comments until bmorris got involved. Unlike sports there aren't clear losses and victories, plus music is incredibly subjective - we all appreciate Phish for different reasons. I also appreciate reading fans' thoughts on the good, the bad and the ugly because just as with 99% of Phish shows, there's always SOMETHING I can take away from someone else's viewpoint.

I don't think Phish is a nostalgia act, but they certainly aren't helping their case by debuting one song over the first six and a half months of 2011. I'm extremely intrigued by the lack of new originals as the band seemed so interested in writing new material over the first few tours since Hampton. While they are playing the Joy songs extensively, what happened to the songs they debuted in 2010? Show of Life has showed up a few times and Halfway to the Moon finally saw action on Sunday, but I'm disappointed What Things Seem, Summer of '89 (awaits flames), My Problem Right There, Burn That Bridge and Idea have yet to be performed this tour. Not a good sign, IMHO.