I definitely hear where you're coming regarding much of the above, particularly The Line, a tune I cannot help but loathe. I found the Pigtail opener pretty weak as well.

But to push back:

- Dear Prudence may be 'owned' by JGB amongst those of us who dig Jerry & the GD, but the suggestion that this perspective is either widely held or influenced Phish's decision to shelve it seems outlandish to me. Regardless, I was thrilled to see it played and think they did a pretty good job.

- To pass over the two bluegrass tunes in Set 1 also seems strange, as not only is it always great to hear them, but they indicate an interest in fast, precise tunes (esp Uncle Pen) that I heartily welcome. Also, and this applies to Dear Prudence and I Found a Reason as well, it is great to see Phish playing cover tunes again, isn't it?

- Round Room was pretty well nailed, save perhaps the ending. To have a difficult tune like this one, almost never played yet played here so well, is not only great in itself but implies the band is digging in to both their catalogue and practice - which is encouraging.

- Finally, I'm really curious about which parts of Billy Breathes you thought were botched, as it sounded pretty spot on to me. This tune has what is undoubtedly my favorite composed Trey guitar solo, and it is a gorgeous tune I'm always happy to hear, so I found this heartening as well.

I agree with you ENTIRELY about the vanilla and largely directionless jamming. But that's pretty standard for a tour opener so for me, that makes the song choices all the more important, especially as portents of what is to come. And for those reasons, I thought this was a good gig and a very good omen for the tour ahead.

Thanks for the review!