2 and a half years out of the hiatus Phish seems to be hitting their stride styisticly now. The peaks of 2011 have been far more thrilling to my ears than any of the peaks from the past 2 years. Coming outta that long hiatus the it seems the band has been trying to cast off a lot of old musical paradigms, shed old skins and find a new way to approach their music. The jamming peaks of 11' have to my ears been more concise, thrilling and self aware than anything i've heard since 1.0. The boys seem to be able now to do more in 12 minutes than they could do in 20 minutes in 2003. The jams seem more organic and far less complacent. I haven't heard any muddled down jams that get lost in a theme or a particular sound for 5 or 6 minutes. I hear every member of the bad driving the jam forward and not resting on their laurels.
This year has featured stunning versions of Wilson, Light, DWD, Sally, Possum, Wavves, The Curtain, Halleys, Gin and many more. The jams in these tracks have stood I think more for the fact that the entire band seems to be attempting to forge new musical landscapes rather than just playing whatever for 20+ minutes. It's super encouraging to hear elements of The Storage Jam in these last few shows although I think the Storage Jam is less an influence on the band than on us the listeners. Phish seems to be in a place where a breakout is poised to happen it just appears to be comingled with alot of head scratching decsions as well. Most of us would probably agree that it's been slim pickins' as far as finding much to love in 1st sets this year and theres been definite issue with song placement all year long. I know that the band is doing what it wants though and I hate to question their creative process simply because they continue to thrill me on regular basis and I have total faith that once they meld this new style of all inclusive non-complacent jamming to a better set structure that something truly unique will bubble up. No Phish tour save for the whole of 97' has ever ever ever been perfect. The band has waxed and waned their whole musical career, only to shock our brains with new musical innovations at almost every turn. I don't like to make predictions about Phish as they usually fall way off the mark but I don't know ANY phan thats not totally stoked for HELLOWEEN and a fall tour this year. A song like Steam and many of the 2.0 songs seem perfectly poised for this fresh style of jamming that just blew my mind with The Gorges "R & R" and last nights whole 2nd set. Someone said the other day on here that maybe it's time for alotta of our old phavorites to hit the shelf for awhile and I couldnt agree more. With alot of reapeats this year played in a perfunctory style that goes against the non-complaceny theme it would be nice if our future "bustouts" were some of favorite 1.0 gems. I look forward to a new crop of Phish songs being written next year and to a show where only a couple of 1.0 songs make the bill. It would be fresh and forward thinking in a way that the peak jams of this year have been. All that being said Phish could play 30 6 minute songs and they'd still be one of the best touring acts on the road. I know theres no better party in town and certainly no better fans to speak of. We're all in this together with the band and our criticsms all come from a place of love, excitement and shared history with this fucking timeless band. Here's hoping for a Florida run this Fall! peace