@SpreadEagle said:

@FACTSAREUSELESS said:

@SpreadEagle said:

@FACTSAREUSELESS said:

I'm not one to defend negative opinions but the reviewer got it right, folks. This show was very hit and miss. Doesn't mean the tour wasn't great. This show was not great. It had lots of misfires.

I felt for the most part, Trey was the only one in the band truly engaged with the music most of the night. Page and Mike offered nothing to the game all night, and both seemed tired and looking forward to the bus trip.

My sentiments exactly. It was all over the place. And I don't get why people think just cause treys jumping around that brings energy to the music. Trey is always bouncing around!

Well it's the same old thing. I wrote a long review of the show on the review page for the show itself which isn't popular either, apparently. People don't like it when reality rains on their fantasy.

I agree with you. I love this band and go out of my way to be an apologist for them and always give the benefit of the doubt, but at the same time I'm a musician and as a result my interest in the bands' music and performance has very little to do with the "scene". I'm the same age as the boys in the band and the concert scene doesn't factor in to my anaylsis when I analyze their music, it really doesn't. I'm looking strictly at the music itself.

Musically, the band was not on the same page Sunday night. Certainly not as they were at other times during the tour. They had some great ideas, such as pairing The Line with Vultures, that was clever, busting out Pebbles and Scents (though Georgia got them as well as FEFY last time), but the flow didn't work and they didn't take advantage of the momentum when they had it. The show kept shooting itself in the foot all night, and in spite of a slightly above-average 4th quarter, the show is at best average. That's just the way it is.

If someone had a great time at the show, well that's terrific, and that is, after all, the point I guess. I'm not trying to suggest that their experience is illigitimate, I'm just saying that musically the show was average for this period.

There was nothing "douchey" about the review. Not every show is going to be a home run. We're watching art in process, live. It isn't always going to work.

But it can't work when all four members aren't fully on board with making it work. The band seemed tired and out of ideas. They made some attempts, but they just didn't have it Sunday night. The fact that the show was still highly entertaining is simply because they're professionals and we love them.

Last fall people loved Reading...I didn't!

However this show was lacking flow..lacking something.

everyone I was talking to during and after the show...had the same points as you and I. Now I'm sure you've seen more than I..however I've been listening to Phish since 95 and it took some time to grow on me which is odd considering I was into Pink Floyd and music from an older generation.

But I'm the exact way...I'm doing more listening than anything!

Now the music is tight playing and pretty good but the band has shown at moments that they can bust a jam anytime if they choose too. But it still lacked the whole summer IMO.

I loved the Reading show, for the most part.

This show in Alpharetta definitely didn't have "IT", except for a couple of moments.

Agree that this Hood is vastly overrated due to Trey's stage antics. I considered it a beautiful misfire. Still more interesting than most 3.0 Hoods however.

I have not been listening to Phish longer than you. I got into them actually after you did. My first show was in Worcester in '97 (the show that boasted the 50+ min. Runaway Jim). Didn't consider myself a Head until '03).

The only thing I don't agree with you on is your comment that the band can pretty much jam whenever they want to. This is true but also untrue at the same time. What I mean is that it's unfair to assume that at any point, the band can launch into type 2, or even extended type 1. There is a tremendous amount of concentration and energy required to listen to one another intently enough while on stage to be able to have "IT" happen, like flipping a light switch on a wall. That's just not how it is.

Musically, there needs to be a consesus among the whole band, and a willingness to engage (by engage I mean put in the effort) in order for that stuff to happen. I mean sure, there are techniques and tricks to fooling everyone into thinking the whole process is organic, but really Phishdom (the fan base) is pretty sophisticated on the whole and we would not appreciate it if they were forcing it on a regular basis. It would get old and trite and uninteresting pretty quick. It's better that the band just run through their songs in standard fashion, nailing all the expected points and then say thank you and good night, than it would be to force a jam.

As an example of what I mean, go see Moe. The difference between Phish and Moe (well, there are quite a few differences not to mention that Phish are better musicians), but regarding jamming I mean, is that Moe tries to jam EVERYTHING, and more often than not it's just a wall of sound and repeated rhythms that just become a muddy mess. Phish's music in 2.0 is often criticized for the same thing; just an elongated, pointless, slop of music that goes nowhere in particular. Now, there's a place for that, but really a jam is much more satisfying (for us and the band) when it is based upon spontaneous and organic ideas springing out of the live performance, and not just a pointless deconstruction of the composed song, just to say "Hey, we're a jam band and we just jammed!" I mean, that's high school stuff.

I like the fact the Phish doesn't always jam out every time. It lets me know that its real when it happens.

You mention the Dead....I loved the Dead, and I bring them up only to help make my point. For many years (in my opinion), the band was at the mercy of how Jerry was feeling, which often wasn't good, and this limited them severely in terms of how exploratory they could be. To prove the point, consider how Furthur played with the guy from Dark Star Orchestra, compared to how they played with Jerry near the end. Now, I know that this argument only goes so far. Different drummers, keyboardists, etc. But still, my point is that all the members need to be on the same page at the same time for a really good piece of experimental live music to gel. It just doesn't come together automatically because they decide to make it so.

Sunday night was a glorious and generous attempt by a tired and road-weary group of 50-yr. old men to create magic for fans that they love. In spite of their hearts' desire to do so, it did not create the magic they hoped for. The beautiful Fluffhead encore is a testament to how they feel about each other and us as fans. This is why many people bristle at what they consider to be "negative" reviews or opinions. To them, it's as though we insulted their mother, and they take it personal. This is unfortunate.

We should be able to utilize this forum for honest dialog about the music without everyone getting their balls pinched.