Reality Check for a Second

This show is basically a Phish 1.0 reprise. We get a Forbins>Mockingbird and a Harpua. On top of that, we have a Drowned jam that sounds straight out of the rolling groove trances of '00, and a Song I Heard the Ocean Sing full of the choppy go-get-'em-ship of the '93-'94 era. It's understandable why everyone is basically shitting themselves over this show, but I think we need a little reality check here. Currently, this is the highest rated show of the Baker's Dozen next to the Jam-filled night. Let's get some perspective here.

While Forbins>Mockingbird is cool, Trey phoned in the added story and butchered the Mockingbird's flight. Love ya, Trey. Just sayin'.

Harpua is cool in that it happened, but really how many people are going to be jamming out to the donut-shaped universe discussion next week?

Drowned is a beautiful piece of ethereal music. No doubt. But for me, it doesn't get too far beyond a swaying good time. There's been a helluva lot more interesting jams this run, especially if you want to get your body moving.

A Song I Hear the Ocean Sing is awesome in that it's so familiar. It's the Phish I grew up with. The '90s era badasses with that young and raw gumption determined to just make shit happen. They just plow ahead with no fear. That's great, and it creates moments of brilliance and moments of utterly enjoyable weirdness. But there's also a lot of moments of grasping for each other and clunking through phrases and transitions. Phish is typically functioning at a much higher, more streamlined, and more potent level of improvisation these days. Check out BD #6's Chalkdust Torture if you want to hear what I mean.

All that's to say, this is a great show, but it's not the best of the tour so far (tonight Phish plays show #10). It's not even the second best. BD #5 and #6 (7/26 & 7/28) deserve closer consideration for those slots. That's my two cents.