@TwiceBitten said:

Hold on, @bertoletdown basically says its best show of the tour, gotta read to the end. But still... I catch your drift. A little more enthusiasm wouldn't hurt. I am by no means asking you to look at the shows with rose colored glasses, and please please do continue to point out the "bad" spots, but this seems kind of workmanlike: just describing the show in chronological order. Maybe take a day off before posting and listen to the SBD or AUD to get more in depth. Gee, I hate being critical, but I just don't want people to miss the point like @realitycheck. Keep up the good work though. It's nice to read stuff that isn't completely apologist like on some other blogs. Did I just reverse my position? I dunno...

A couple points.

First, the show happens in chronological order. No way around that. It's the way I and many others (hopefully) experience it, so it's the way my brain likes to process it in review, and so that's how I write. It's my default mode. There are certainly other ways to go about it, but I was also writing in real time (while listening to an outstanding feed, by the way) so that's how it came out.

Secondly, I believe that sets and shows are not always the sum of their parts. I can listen to a set of Phish laced with a huge highlight or two and feel let down, and can listen to a set of Phish with average-great delivery and very little jamming and feel quite satisfied because there was flow or purpose. So if my song-by-song appraisal is disconnected a bit from my take on the overall performance, that's why. I don't think this is uncommon.

Thirdly, and it pains me to even have to explain this, the staff here are under no obligation to deliver you anything but their unvarnished opinion. The vast majority of the staff remains obsessed with this band and glad to the bone that they are alive and well and playing tours. But I think we've earned the right to call it like we see it. If you think we're being punitive or overly negative then tell us why. We will be glad to listen, consider, and respond. But telling me that an overwhelmingly positive review that I took the time to write is evidence that I have psychological problems or that I am leading an unhappy life? Apart from how off-target the statement is, what does it say about @realitycheck's inability to process a review of a Phish show without putting a complete stranger's personal life on blast?

But I'm the one who needs to self-examine. I see.

@Twicebitten, I know it wasn't you who wrote the post I'm referring to, by the way.]