Alright, so I decided not to be a dick about it and give them some credit. 3 months off, no practicing? I mean really, what did we expect? I think expectations were a bit off the mark for this run, tho it makes sense given the way they played in '11. I think what we can take away from this run is that the band needs a fall tour in the rotation in order to play the new years run up to par. Sorry if this is obvious, but I dont think that we should take away doomsday scenarios about the end of phish from a poorly calculated scheduling issue.

We saw them take a *huge* leap forward this year with numerous jams patiently developing to maturity, juggernauts in dwd and rocknroll, and the solidification of a veritable first set winner in wolfmans. A few shows had the mystical flow that really does seem to transcend time, and we really did reach the point of a few shows reaching the "all-time" discussion rather than the 3.0 asterisk.

I might get hated on here, but I'd honestly rather they didn't play a new years at all if they're not properly warmed up for it. Combine ridiculous hype, expectations, webcast, etc with a band thats not ready and you get safe, high energy shows. I don't mean to discourage those who were there or anyone who really loved the shows; by all means enjoy the shit out of phish. That's what everyone does this for. I think that they may have learned the lesson in terms of practicing, though, because that axilla was truly cringe-worthy. One of the worst flubs I've heard since Coventry. I make this point not because I'm nitpicking about how every song needs to be played perfectly (I'd rather every show had multi-flubs and a couple long jams) but to illustrate the point that I think it was obvious to the band that they needed more practice.

Though fall is not gonna happen this year, and red light will coerce them to play MSG or Miami new years, I think they got the point that they should practice a substantial amount before hopping on stage next new years. A couple of warm-up shows a la Worcester 10 would be a good idea too. I guess the main point in all this rambling is that this run should serve as an impetus for next year rather than a litmus for this year. Just my $.02, but each year seemed to progress nicely from the year before in terms of risk taking, and I'd watch out for them next year!