I thought last night had a few moments of heat, but overall the band wasn't connected like they have been in several other shows this tour. See Chalk through Roses. At times, Trey wanted to push, and Fishman would ignore him. Half the band wanted to jam through Roses, and the other half stopped completely. Other times, a groove meatball was tossed right down the middle and the guys wouldn't hit it out of the park - instead, they would get quiet and dwindle. I love the dark and ambient Phish more than most, and I love that it has popped up on this first leg, but lately it usually indicates that the jam is coming to a close. They don't go Loud -> Melodic/Spacey -> New groove anymore (save Cincy Twist).

I find that the band has had too many ants in the pants when it comes to the jams lately. Sometimes, when a jam has run it's course and happens to be 10 minutes, it's perfect, like Worcester Roses. Other times, the jam remains unsatisfying and makes me think that they didn't push like they could have. Stash and Train from set 1, Carini, Sand, and even Ghost somewhat felt like windows were open and were tossed aside at a glance.

Now, it's not fair of me to expect the band to constantly push every single song they play, but I ask: "Why hold back?" When the potential is there and they seemed primed to go and get cold feet, I end up assuming that they're saving their creative juices or something for another point in the show. But when that point in the show comes off as forced or they don't connect, they've wasted a few of the organic opporunities that were there for the taking. That gets frustrating.

I know everybody gets annoyed at "this guy", but seriously - where is the length? The longest jam of the tour to this point is a 15 minute DWD. I know they're capable of more, but they simply refuse. To every single person out there who says "quality over quantity", I submit Bethel Waves soundcheck to you. It's both of those things. But minute 21 and beyond that we love so dearly wouldn'tve existed without the push. If it had ended at minute 12, or 15, or 20, yeah, it would be a great version. But the transcendent part of the jam takes place past that. How many transcendent moments have they denied themselves and us but opting to go into Golden Age or 2001 after a cool 10 min jam? All I'm saying is that they don't seem to have any interest in following the music for more than 12 minutes. It's a shame. Great jams this tour - but what is the defining piece? 2009 had Albany, 2010 had the fall shows and the MSG Tweezer/Ghost, last year had Bethel Waves, Clarkston set two, Storage, Gorge RnR and Tahoe Light...what is it this year? Has it happened yet? I don't think so. Will it? I can only hope.

Loved set one, but felt Horn and Corinna were uneccesary. They felt sort of throw-away-ish and, being good tunes, deserve better. Other than that, I would give set one an A-.
Set two...mixed bag. But will give it a solid B+. Good show, not perfect, but a notch above average. Let's see what happens this weekend!!