let's face it, the turning away from the standard jam vehicles started in 97. in 1.0 they continued to deliver outstanding jams out of the standard vehicles, but towards the end, more often then not, the real meat of the explorations came from song that weren't tweezer/yem/mike's. 2.0 was really its own beast and turned the "standards" on their heads whereby anything could take off, and in 03 usually succeeded.

mike said in an interview before hampton that the wasn't sure about the future of yem, that they'd get sick of playing the same songs over and over. as much as it pains me to say it, i'd have to agree with him that phish should do whatever it takes to make things fresh and exciting for them and us. still waiting for that 30 min yem/ghost or a respectable mikes, but the fact that it's just not happening is no longer something to bitch about when they give performances like this one. as really the only analogue of a jamming and prolific band, the dead have to be mentioned as they metamorphisized from the various eras. think in 77 there were "jaded" vets pissed because there were no more dark stars? some of the jams that were epic turned more conventional (NFA comes to mind) and new ones took off.

the further we get from 09, the more the "evolutional" stage will mutate into a new pattern with its own distinctive structures. i hate to say it, but i think this show was so phenomenal *because* it didn't have a tweezer/yem/mike's in it. the more i go over my favorite set 2's from 3.0, the more i'm shocked to see that these songs almost never show up. they get the band into shred mode, tight, and energetic but without much going on to require repeated listenings. disease/rocknroll/light/waves seem to be the new heavy-hitters to watch out for, and as long as they give these songs the kind of patience exhibited in 11 we are in for more show like this one. phish is on its own cutting-edge because they are the ones creating, we all just have to catch up.