"Part of the excitement about so many songs is the promise that they will go on to do something new and interesting; when they are not given a chance to do so (rather than merely trying and failing), it is a betrayal of that promise and weakens the impact of the song the next time around."

I agree with this 100%. Big reason its so frustrating hearing a Wilson like this after the potential of the last one. I understand if they want to turn clock back on a lot of heavy-hitters, even if it's all the way to 1991.

I see a lot of people complaining about the lack of exploration in the uber-classics like YEMs, Tweezers, Bowie & Gins- as well as relative young guns Ghost, Piper & Twist- but (by itself) that feels fine to me. Phish has hundreds of songs, but a majority of them are played straight up 100% of the time. Camel Walk is one of Phish's oldest and funkiest songs, yet stayed glued to it's structure even during 1997. Sure, popping up in lieu of Mockingbird on 8/14/97 was a great curveball in setlist construction but once Camel Walk began, they played it close to the vest as usual.

I don't know if it's a failure of imagination on Phish's part, a conscious decision to predominately stick to the classics & new material which they're most familiar with and keep everything succinct or if they just assume that people would be happier hearing 25 of their favorite songs than 8. Perhaps they associate long freewheeling jams with the reportedly increasingly dark scene around the band around the turn of the millenial hotdog.
Personally, I think it's a little bit of 'all of the above' and none whatsoever of "They don't have it anymore"
The setlist scenario is the most confusing as Trey has stated that they write setlists and then abandon them. Does anyone know of any 3.0 shows where they (supposedly) stuck with the script they took the stage with all night? I'd be curious to see how that looks in relation to segments like Simple> Bug, Horse> Silent, Weekapaug, Joy, Zero E: Show Of Life from Superball- thats a seriously conflicted & disjointed stretch of songs and while most of them were pleasantly well played, outside of maybe Simple, nobody is ever going to flashback to that sequence unless they proposed to their high school sweetheart during it. Truth be told, Phish has always seemed to be worth 2 or 3 head scratching setlist calls per night but lately whole sets can just seem drawn out of a hat. Interestingly enough, this tendency seems to be exaggerated right after either an improv heavy segment or simply a cohesive bunch of songs. DTE's second set ended after Bowie. The encore started with 3 songs left to go in the 2nd set, fairly common occurence lately and it's baffling.
Much less baffling is Phish's renewed dedication to playing their songs and "Phase 1" type jams properly. Compared to vast swaths of 97-04, Phish is seriously in command of their songs. Perhaps the way their brains work during improv throws them off their game some when it comes to playing some of this extremely complex material? Perhaps they are all too aware of the way a lot of their oldest-school-fans felt about the spacy and groovy material the band was churning out on a regular basis in the 99-04 era.

They've given us plenty of reasons to beg for them to jam more. From flashes of brilliance and inspiration so short that you may have missed them- the Superball Mound & Wilson, the Gorge's Roggae and Farmhouse- to seriously sprawling gauntlet-thrown improvisation such from the Bethel Waves Tech Rehearsal to the Gorge Rock & Roll.

I love jams. I'll stop rambling now. These tastes are mad tantalizing but i'm still holding out for jammed out Bouncins & 20 minute Rock A Williams without the rotation and with Fishman doing Phil Collins and whatever. Anything Goes Tour 2012. I'll hold my breath if you do?

If we all click our heels three times and pray to Vishnu, the next Makisupa will have a 15 minute long hose attatched to it and inspires such a massive trend of "!!!!?!!??" moments in improvisatory debauchery that it stands as the Murat Gin of the future.
Hiroshimakisupa!

I'm on Taste -> Undermind -> Vultures Tour.