@waxbanks said:

Of course Phish is under no obligation to play that way if they don't want to anymore. But those of us who prefer that style are under no obligation to like the fact that those jams are for the most part gone.

This is true. But I'll submit this counterpoint: if you listen to the band and aren't committed to finding the utmost pleasure in what's happening now, and keep holding the music against the standard of what they played 15 years ago, then yes -- 'egotism' and 'selfishness' are very precise terms for what's wrong (in my view) with that practice.

I don't mean ego=you're a dick. I mean ego=placing your (my!!) expectations above the moment.

I get what you are saying here, I really do. And maybe you are misunderstanding how I experience a Phish show. If I'm in the house, or even watching a webcast, I'm experiencing it in the moment, not analyzing it and comparing it to a jam from long ago. Like I said, I'm having a blast, and find great moments that take me to that next level even in the shortened jams that seem to be de rigueur nowadays. If I write a review of a current show I focus on the highlights, and I still find a bunch in almost any 3.0 show.

But in the cool light of day, when each and every historical Phish show is as available as another, it seems impossible not to compare and contrast shows, tours, years, eras, etc. It's part of what makes being a Phish fan fun for me - the institutional memory of the fan base is so amazing. I'm a scientist. I like analysis. And charts. And graphs. And for me and seemingly many other fans, there is just way more to really dig into in 1.0 and 2.0 Phish than 3.0. Ask yourself this (and this is not directed just at you, but all fans): if you are going to randomly download a show you haven't heard, is it going to be a 3.0 show, or a (post-93) 1.0 show? If you see a YEM in a 2011 setlist are you going to be as excited to hear it as one in a 1995 show?

Does this mean I think Phish should hang it up and quit playing? No way - there have still been moments in 3.0 that live up to the best of what 1.0 and 2.0 have to offer. But for me there are way fewer, and that's where my disappointment (after the fact, not in the moment) with the direction of the band comes in. Maybe it's unfair to the band and myself as a fan to feel this way, but I'm not going to pretend I don't. And I know I'm not alone.