I see the Chicago shows that closed the 2011 summer tour as the detonation of the charges the band set during the Storage Jam. They were the manifestation of the promise of that jam as it applied to regularly-scheduled two-set shows. For me, Chicago 2011 is the earliest portion of 3.0 to which I'll regularly listen, and the greatness of those shows can be confidently discussed without quickly attaching the "for 3.0" qualifier. There were good shows that came first, of course, but that run was solid, even night 3, which I truly enjoy from an antics standpoint.

For me, 2015 was the year in which that qualifier could be dropped entirely, and with the exception of a little engine-sputtering in 2016, we've remained there since. I'll definitely agree that there isn't a singular moment in 2015 on which everything pivots, but for me, as I was following the 2015 tour in anticipation of the Blossom show (which was my first since 2009), when I saw the setlist of and then listened to 7/31/2015, it was a moment of clarity at least for me. I knew then we were well past the days of giving a show like Utica 2010 a deluxe release because it kinda-sorta brought us back to the halcyon days; instead, we were legitimately in a later-period golden age.