It's honestly been just a plain ol' growing curve since sobriety and all that; and a lot of that transition was Trey just becoming ok again with the whole thing. I really believe that; wondering if that's why they don't get too out there in terms of time on the road, etc. That and all of 'em having families now. But they've done it, & slowly gotten back to a old-skool-but-new-&-matured version of themselves. I truly feel bad that I doubted 'em actually; it just took so long to get there! Now, tho, yea- they're so all-the-way-back to being the dopest band ever it's undeniable, & even with a new jamming approach. Let 'em say what they want about Trey playing chords in jams; I don't think peeps realize how important it is to Trey, for multiple reasons, to step back & let the others take over, or at least lead-off the jam. Anyway, too long, but yea, for the first time in a long time, I find myself choosing to listen to new stuff at work, in the car, or when I'm really able to focus on the music at home, but that's not been the case, at least for any consistent length of time, since '09....until now. I thought last summer 2012, especially towards the end, they were coming back strong & it was sweet, then was shocked & dismayed that they seemed to lose ground b4 summer '13, going back to whale-call city, etc. NO PART of 2012 was as consistently good, nor as-good period, as this fall tour. Good jams were becoming more frequent summer '12, but besides Dicks, 3rd-night-Bill/Graham, etc, the others were either ok or downright meh. This has been at least 1-2 solid jam segments EVERY show, with some shows having entire sets that r smoking. Take '92, '94, '95, even Fall '97, and, put up against this tour, none can claim more solid playing, with such consistency night-after-night, and as many pure hose moments as this tour. Maybe Fall '97, I guess...but they'd be closer to 'tied' than one vs the other. I think we'll look back on this era of Phish w/ much more appreciation down the road....but for the first time since '09, I can truly say I'm as excited about Phish and wherever they go from here as I always was in the 90s. No more "I'm-an-old-school-head-&-shit-just-ain't-wut-it-used-2-be" -rants from me; I've now been converted BACK into one of Phish's blindly-faithful, they-can-do-no-wrong lapdog fans.....
And god is it good to b back. Thanks guys.