@LightsWentOut said:

@FACTSAREUSELESS said:

@ForgeTheCoin said:

Finally finished listening to this show and I honestly could not be more surprised at what I heard based on the ferocity of negativity about it.... It's really not a bad show! Yes, Sugar Shack, Antelope were botched and perhaps there were a couple other sloppy moments, but all in all it is a very listenable show IMO. Loved the Ghost/Shade/Jibboo, love Trey's Jerry tone in Devotion to a Dream, and yes I'm one of those guys that likes Waiting All Night... always happy to hear it. I have heard MUCH worse shows. Don't ask me to tell you which ones, but I guarantee they exist. This isn't even close to the "worst ever" labels people were putting on it. I would DL and re-listen to multiple portions of this show... and I'm usually an annoying picky listener!

Don't know where you're reading such reviews, but no one hear has labeled this show as "worst ever". We are just acknowledging that it wasn't of the same high caliber as the opening shows of the tour. No one is bashing it.

I dunno. The language in the review is pretty negative. Other people may not feel that this show was bad, but it is pretty clear that the review was not feeling it at all. Here's some of that language that I am referring to: "The first set from Austin...was far below average, even for the modest standards of a modern Phish first set."

Saying that this first set was far below average was overstating things by a lot. We can argue over the degree to which he deviated from the expected norm, but I am not aware of anyone who was at this show who felt that anything about it was below average.

The whole review, while recognizing the legitimate highlights of the show, was encapsulated in negativity that, in my opinion, was not deserved of this show. I don't blame people for thinking that this review looked down on this show because the language used makes it pretty clear.

Well-stated. I must admit, though, that I was thinking the same things as the reviewer. I think it was the flubs that made me cringe in the first set. I had developed those dreaded EXPECTATIONS after Bend, that Trey was going to work flawlessly without a net all tour.