Today, we find ourselves in various degrees of "lockdown". Our condition connotes separation to many of us, and the band's decision to invite us to weekly Dinners with Movies has helped assuage further alienation from what has again, fortunately, become normal to us - Summer Tour. I find myself looking back to years that I was too young/economically unable to travel to shows, the early 3.0 years (yea, I'm a noob, but I've put my work to catch up!). Though they are often pushed to the wayside by the expanding catalogue of excellent shows of years past, thanks to the seemingly still-germinating commitment of all four members of the band, those years gave us some real gems that deserve a listen, just as the early 90s, late 90s, and the oft-forlorn 2.0.

While I first cut my teeth on a sprawling smorgasbord of a gifted USB drive (anyone use those anymore?), I self-indoctrinated on the '10-'13 tours as a fan in high school, and the first self-discovered jam that truly floored me was the 09/02/12 Sand. Having listened to the beautiful first set, which contained concise yet energetic renditions of several classics (ACDC>DWD, Gin, Maze, Possum), welcome deliveries of relative rarities in the 3.0 era (Nellie Kane, Ride Captain Ride), and modern staples, I was excited to see if a 6 song 2nd set would hit me like a 4-5 song 2nd set of the late 90s-early '00s. I didn't expect to be disappointed, but I was. This was more dynamic than anything I'd heard the band tackle in the past.

Interpersonal dynamics take an improvisational passage to the next level on countless occasions throughout the band's history, yet many of these synergies are discussed as if binary by nature. There are regular comments that refer to this 'paired anchor' phenomenon. Trey and Fish, Page and Trey, Mike and Fish, etc. Over thirty years and many personal and professional deviations, the guys should absolutely still be proud to link up so tightly with even one band member - it's part of why we celebrate this band. That s*** is hard! This Sand ,and the three(!!!) succeeding jams, demonstrates a mastery of amoebic improvisation that includes all four members and creates something particularly beautiful and irreplicable. Page sits back on clav, Mike and Fish play tag within the Sand bass/drumlines, and Trey gets inspired by it all (always partial to a fun drumlins, that guy). They hit a beautiful, oh-so-brief relative major peak 3 minutes into the Sand jam and don't turn back. You know it's good when your focus shifts to and fro, back to front, and the cup overfloweth.

The whole 2nd set contains the best of 3.0 Phish. The best characteristic that I can identify is a sober, focused, ~deep~ desire to give their best to the here and now. As they have always done, their efforts are paying themselves forward and providing solace and comfort to those listening years on. Join us.