It's not on the level of 94, 95, or 97, but I think Fall 96 gets a bit of a bum rap. Phish was playing many of its songs wonderfully that year. Simple and DWD were coming into their own as consistent jam vehicles. Other songs, like Mike's, 'Paug, and Maze, had terrific tours, and Taste started to find its legs late on fall tour (see 11/29 and 30 for versions that anticipate the explosions of amazing Tastes in 97).

It's true that the explorations weren't as frequent or as cosmic, but there were some deep, powerful jams during Fall 96. Every show from 10/31 -> 11/8 contains a standout improvisational highlight: the RiL set, the 11/2 Crosseyed -> Antelope (not to mention Waste, Hood, and a very strong first set with Karl Perazzo!), the 11/3 Tweezer, the 11/6 Mike's Groove , the 11/7 Gin, and the 11/8 Simple. Then there are the 11/18 and 12/6 Simples, the 11/27 Diseezer, the 12/1 Tweezer, 12/4 Mike's, 11/13 Suzy...

Yes, Fall 96 is no Fall 95 or 97, or even particularly close. But don't overlook the gems from this tour. Phish is an AMAZING band, and even during a bit of a down year, they were consistently creating music worth hearing repeatedly.