Great synopsis, Charlie (Icculus). I agree with basically all of what you wrote. On a non-Summer 2012 note, prompted by your comment in the review of the 6/15/12 Piper, I checked out the Piper Jam Chart, and I was shocked not to see that the 7/21/97 Piper was not mentioned.

Obviously, this was before Phish had transformed the song into a jam vehicle. But it is, in my opinion, one of the all-time best versions of the song. At the time, I hadn't heard the Europe summer tapes (yes, tapes!) yet, so the first four songs of the VA Beach show were a revelation. After being blown away by the Ghost tour opener, by the time this Piper rolled around, I didn't know what to think. I hadn't heard them do anything like this before, but I loved it, and you can tell from the collective roar in the pavilion just when the drums come in that pretty much everyone was digging it. I still consider this the best version of the song, all things (re)considered, even 15 years later.

Anyway, not to get off on a tangent, but I just thought I'd mention it. I wish they would take their time with the opening build-up, as they did in the early days of the song. These days, it just seems like they do the intro, build for 30 seconds, and then plunge right in like kids into a stack of presents on Christmas morning.

Ok, 'nuf said about this old school Piper.