Listen to a selection of 30+ minute jams, in each instance there comes a point where you can ask yourself “why is this still going?” The band has a level of restraint now. Instead of pushing further away from where they started, they often come back. Finding a point of closure instead of greater depth or finding a new song to work to start fresh with. I don’t know if it’s better or worse, it just is.

I'm second to no one in my love of the thirty minute jam. And I'm certainly on the record in wishing they'd extend things more often than they do. But the thing that kills so many 3.0 sets isn't necessarily the fact that jams don't hit the thirty minute mark anymore. The MSG Ghost, UIC Waves -> Undermind and Dick's Tweezer are all proof that Phish can "get there" in well under half an hour. Rather it's the ripcord whipsaw. All too often, a promising second set Tweezer or Ghost is ended prematurely, which wouldn't be so objectionable if the result wasn't the four song closer parade (i.e. Golgi > Cavern > Antelope > Suzy).