@nichobert said:

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.

I agree with you pretty much about the "sets seeming drawn out of a hat" thought, but not in relation to last nights second set. I would insist that this was a set that flowed exceptionally well, with a couple of thoughtful and patient transitions. Just trying to give credit where it's due, I actually would hold up that set as one of the more thoughtfully put together ones of the summer.

I'm merely going on my reactions of one spin through the headphones earlier this morning, but playing contained versions of Birds and Golden Age didn't bother me one iota....it's not like those are overplayed as of late, and both versions were crisp and energetic. Golden Age, in particular, kinda played the role that 2001 has of late in second sets, and I thought that was great. Much preferable to another race through the ASZ theme.

Then a cap to the set with a rocking Antelope that recaps the themes of the set smoothly. This was a well put together set, the slower stuff was placed appropriately, there was a logic to the proceedings.