This is a very subjective thing, critiquing art of any kind, and one of the comments in this very thread shows why...

"Thankfully, the band is absolutely obviously still capable of delivering the titanic goods of transcendent metamorphosis in music, with the 7/8/12 Piper, the 8/31/12 Chalkdust, the 9/2/12 Sand, the 7/31/13 Tweezer, the Hollywood Hood, the MSG Disease > Carini, etc.

But what I fail to understand is their reluctance to chase this majesty on a nightly basis, when they clearly simply have to try, and they will generally succeed."

It's actually pretty simple. Not everybody who goes to a Phish show is looking for the same things you are looking for, and the band has to play for everybody, not just you.

Do most Phish fans like 30 minute improv-heavy jams? Sure. Are there fans that would rather hear tightly performed versions of Phish songs? More than you think.

There is more variety in the Phish fanbase than some people think, and when people cry out to the heavens "Why won't they do what we ALL want them to do?" those people are almost certainly wrong. That song that pissed you off? Somebody else was loving it and screaming out "That's my jam!"

My sister is a big Bouncin' fan, so I know this from experience.