I enjoy this site very much and have been logging in for many years although I have never posted. I have been going to Phish shows since 1994.

Reading this kind of surprised me. In one respect I can't imagine why a review would only be concerned with the music alone and the overall experience and energy of the show not be considered. It is extremely important. But, if it must be just about the music, I would disagree that someone that was not at the show could review it well. I love this site but generally find the reviews to be totally subjective and not necessarily what I would consider an expert view. That is also fine but should be considered. I just returned from Long Beach and San Fransisco and can tell you that the band is playing with increased enthusiasm and energy and overall there is an incredible tightness to many of the songs they play. I find many of the reviews gloss over these great moments, but, am not surprised because they were not there to truely experience it. It seems more that the reviewers here are mostly only interested with the magic, best of all time moments, focussed mostly on the improvised jams. I am not surprised because this is what sticks out to me as well when I am listening to the shows while not actually there. But, Phish is a different band now. Most likely there are going to be more songs that are technically very tight and played incredibly well than improvised jams from the old days. I can't give much validity to a reviewer that is only in search of recreating that show he/she saw back in 1997 that blew their mind. In the case of the recent SF shows, the energy and tightness of the band was better than anything I saw last year. Everyone that I have talked to that was actually at the shows had musical experiences that where much higher than many of the shows they have seen. And the band played incredibly well. So many great music moments. But, maybe you just had to be there to understand.

Overall unfortunately I find most of the reviews to approach the review in a shallow analysis. Therefore I do not agree with the point being made above.

Still a great site, but, the reviews are the weakest part in my opinion. Sorry.

Just my view.