@Jestinphish said:

Good points from both of you. Arrogance is too strong of a word. After rereading my post it comes off as too negative. Point was expectations are sometimes too high and need not be. We're all humans. The boys included. This site started years ago as a love fest of the band. Sometimes these days it tends to lean towards the quote-unquote jaded vets trying to recapture the glory days. Much like athletes that talk about how good they "used to be". I never used to read so many negative comments. And CAPhan. Any money I've ever spent on this band has been money well spent. Period. Phish is like pizza. Even when they're not the best, they're still pretty fucking great.

I love this site because of the discussions it creates and the speculations. I just would like to see a little more positivity when doing so. You know... like the good ol' days... the way it used to be!

Good counterpoint. I think I'm with you.

But your original premise that we are thinking way too hard....it appears from the folks chiming in that @AlbanyYEM is truly on to something with his analysis. I, for one, find this sort of chatter to be wildly amusing and greatly adds to my enjoyment of the scene. I love hearing and reading the thoughts of other fans who have a different perspective.

The perception of sound and experience is so incredibly subjective. All we can ever hope to do is share our view and see who it connects with. "Did I really hear that?" "Am I the only one that thought (this or that) was awesome?" That sort of thing.

Your point on the "jaded vets" resonates with me and I've stood on my soapbox a few times to herald that sentiment on this site, but I've come to appreciate the admin team here (I've only been on the site for a couple of years) as a group of truly diehard fans who have suffered and rejoiced with this band through all the various periods.

I've come to understand that many of the folks who initially came across to me as "jaded vets" were actually just trying to maintain a sense of perspective and balance. Memories are precious and almost living organisms and when it feels as though someone is pissing on them we all get defensive to a degree.

Raving about an average show as being an all-timer will almost always generated a "jaded vet" response. We do have an element of obnoxious "jadedness" within the community, however, which needs to get poked in the chest once in a while and reminded of reality.