@nichobert said:

Don't think anyone said 1st set improv was better.. Think they were saying the lack of much 1st set improv is the only thing holding the last few years back from being on par with anything.

I think 11-14 for the most part annihilates fall 98-04 when it comes down to simple "how good is the jamming?" Questions.. But the set construction back in the day has to come into play for sure.. Plus the fact that some boring 25 minute Sand from 99 gets higher marks for effort than a handful of standards

The reference by the reviewers to 2003 is timely and appropriate since it appears that the band is clicking right now in similar fashion to Winter Tour '03.

However your comment about the tendency to overrate jams of the late nineties just because they were long is right on. Many of those long jams were frankly not very interesting, especially when you get to 99-00, where you often have 7-10 minutes at a time of guitar loops and spacey effects before they do anything remotely musical.

The boys these days do a lot more in a lot less space, generally speaking.