I only read a few of the comments (good positive energy and comments...no bickering or attitude...very nice!), but I did read the review. Nice and succinct. I also enjoyed the Icculus. Trey hasn't spoken much lately of course and certainly hasn't been into telling stories lately, so that was fun and a great convincing version of that song.

Beyond that, I was feeling during this show and continue to feel that this was the worst show I have seen or heard...possibly ever...maybe simply because my expectations were too high. I don't know.

It irks me (only a little because I still love and cherish every show with these guys) that they seem to take entire shows to guess, practice and warm up. I am not some grumpy unsatisfied "vet" of the Phish scene. Please don't jump all over me with that. I have been around since 1992, but I still love and generally feel nothing but love and positive energy for Phish. For 21 years they have been my biggest influence as a musician...(and I am primarily a "classical" saxophonist)...but still, Phish is it! ...but this show...maybe I need to hear it again...it was just really really bad to my ears...or for that particular evening...I don't know. It just went way south as the show progressed.

The whole band seemed to bludgeon through a lot of the songs with a general unsettled feeling because they hadn't practiced. ...and that damn whammy pedal! I just can't stand it! For example, Theme could have been good (in fact it was good), but I can't see listening to it again simply because that pedal just ruins tone and intonation. Bugs me!!! Please forgive the mini outburst...this is one of the very few things that bugs me about 3.0. It was going SO great without it during most of the tour this year. I was so happy! Show after show!!! Just awesome! When it did pop out, Trey was being more careful...it was just so much better. Maybe it is a crutch when things aren't taking off...kind of like the super fast strumming thing he does when the jam supposedly needs to be intense. Again...I don't know. The whammy pedal wasn't even the biggest issue of the night for me. They were just fumbly...not something you usually see from a Phish show.

Maybe I should listen to the show again...

...but for now, I always try to remember something Trey said. I don't know the exact quote, but he was frustrated by the fact that often fans were more concerned about WHAT they played (rarities and things like that) than HOW they played. ...I guess to me...this show (mostly after the Icculus...which was legitimately energetic and real)...was just plain bad.

No one is above a bad night or a wrong note. The greatest classical musicians miss notes all the time. The best jazz musicians get lost in the changes. The best band ever...Phish...has off nights. It took me a while to accept that when I was young, but that's OK. We used to scream and yell with excitement when they made a mistake after all...Lizards> Creature at Sugarbush for example.

Also excited about fall tour!

...the segue into Silent was nice! I miss the Hoods that we have grown up with, but it was still nice!

Slave was pretty good too...

...and Stash was better than the Stash's from previous 3.0 years.

...ok! so maybe not the worst ever! ...but it still doesn't sit right with me!