Thanks for articulating so well what I've been feeling about the band's playing. I find it hard to listen to much of anything from this tour, even songs that turn into great jams -- Friday's Tweezer, a few others -- without cringing. Forgotten lyrics, missed changes, sour notes... all too frequent, and most of it is Trey's inability to play the compositions or effectively harness his rig. The podcast you linked is informative, even if the tech talk is over my head, because it provides language for what I've been hearing; tonal shifts have sounded off time or, as reviews of other shows this tour have noted, Trey will hit notes and nothing comes out. He acknowledges that he's been working out how to control his revamped amp setup, so he's effectively been rehearsing live on stage.

I don't expect to hear vintage Phish when they play now, and that's fine, but it's not unreasonable to expect that they'd commit to playing consistently well, is it? On one hand, it's clear in hearing Trey talk about the approach to Baker's Dozen that they still care about the fan experience, but the willingness to step on stage without full command of their repertoire, or just a part of it as suggested by the author, indicates that the fan concern has limits.