@AlbanyYEM said:

I've been incredibly busy but have definitely been lurking on here. You know it's a good tour when absolute gems aren't even present in the tour write up, seriously this tour is exactly the fulfillment of the promise of Dicks last year. I could not be happier with the state of Phish right now. Haven't been this excited in a long long time.

Yeah, I agree. It drives me crazy reading people's comments sometimes. I have to resist focusing on negatives and just enjoy what's going on.

There was someone complaining that Trey doesn't "rip" anymore. I mean, I know what the guy means because Trey went through what I call his "Hendrix" period in the 90's; that time in the band's history when Trey would just go off, and the rest of the band just sort of followed along at a safe distance. But what bothers me with that sort of commentary is the total ignorance of the sublety of the band nowadays. They were so tight and interactive this past Fall. Far from being "content to play rhythm", as one person put it, Trey seems so locked in to his bandmates, just unselfish and letting the music dictate the flow of his playing.

I listened to some shows from Fall '10 a couple weeks ago and there was a lot more soloing going on from the Golden Bear, with tight chops and almost impeccable timing. This past Fall was much more raw, as though he had finally shed the fashia of an older incarnation and was finally in the atmosphere of free space again. There was an edge and a "garage-band" flavor to the jams this past Fall, if you follow.

Thought the New Year's run was pretty rough around the edges, and you could once again hear the rust from the layoff. Thankfully, though, they didn't lose what they gained in group dynamics regarding their improvisational style.

Also love that they are not afraid to go "dark" lately. This Fall really felt like a tighter version of '03 Winter Tour.