I was going to say what a momentum killer this show was. 2 straight nights of a serious commitment to go for it, even if the results weren't always pure gold. I'm thinking ghost here, that while an interesting excursion never quite gelled into either the deep psychedelia or a melodic groove, DID in fact show that they were there to jam. Without that rushed feeling of, we have 10 mins to make this happen and if it doesn't then harsh segue, that seems to be common in this era.

Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed the jam, but more for the sake of yes they are going for it than the jam itself. I couldn't help thinking that with this kind of commitment to going for it, that a few more shows under the belt would really bring it to the next level beyond the 3.0 asterisk. Like Pine Knob, UIC, and a few others last year. To have those shows be more of the norm than the extreme highlights.

And then...bonnaroo happened. This was almost literally exactly what I expected. We can all debate the question of whether they need to dumb things down for the festy sets, but one thing that is certain is that it indeed was dumbed down. It wasn't the story of the ghost album that did it for me, it was seeing them crush, just absolutely crush jams like it was there business to do so nightly. Like it was almost too much for a noob to take. Confirming that not only should I see them again but that dear lord who ARE these guys and how are they able to *effortlessly* mindfuck their audience with such swagger and aplomb?

Now, I don't expect things to just go back to 97-98 and anyone who does is kind of missing the point. But it did get me thinking that the reason they were able to jam so well is that they actually went for it every show. Not every jam is a keeper, but if you just keep going out there letting it all hang out night after night then of course it becomes second nature and the quality is consistently high. What I saw from the DCU shows was the willingness to fall flat on their faces. Of course they didn't, but eventually the fear of the unknown turns into the joy of the unknown.

The band seemed on the brink of yet another 3.0 turning point. To pursue without constraint that elusive shift felt in the entirely improvised effortlessness and to find that they had already known this deep in their collective.

And then, there is this show. Momentum. I don't know how else to put it. To comment on the actual show here seems redundant, but I just needed to get out of my system how much the timing and placement in the tour for it is just awful. Talk about taking a step forward and then three or four backwards. Phish doesn't need to play at bonnaroo. They have plenty of fans. Some critical and others less. My point is that we all enjoy them for slightly different reasons, but I think we can all agree that if this show was typical of how they played every night we'd all be seeing them a lot less. Why would you even want a new crop of fans that doesn't really get it anyway?

As an afterthought almost, I do have to mention that the next show after the horrendous outside lands festy was UIC night one. Yes, UIC night one. Dirty, nasty, mystical. So what the hell do I know?