nichobert said:

"I'm hoping for the best, but prepared for this show to just be one of those ones where Phish is playing for the audience in front of them and not thinking about it in a larger context. "

I think that inadvertantly you summed it up perfectly.

Phish has always been a live band who plays for the audience in front of them. What is the larger contaxt? Or is there one at all?

Does every show have to be an epic?

The whole couch tour thing is totally overblown IMHO. It's nice and convenient to be able to do it, but not at all the intention behind a live show.

Of course I dont think that delegitmizes any criticism of the music itself, but listening at home or on "tape" only gives a portion of the total experience and that cannot and should not be discounted from any critique.

By all accounts people are having a blast at the shows while people on couch tour are sitting around in their wet Depends waiting for someone to come and change them.