@JMart said:

@FACTSAREUSELESS said:

excellent and balanced review with a noteworthy and respectful lecture to younger fans to maintain perspective.

I will only say that 53 is different than 23. One of these days the previous "Peak" will have been their last. It happens to everyone eventually, though I tend to agree with you that it's way premature to signal-flare the death of Phish.

There are definite signs, however, that Trey no longer relates to, or wants to carry the weight of the mantle. I suspect the band is starting to part ways in their creative process. And this is not a good thing.

This is so correct. I think about Phish a lot. I imagine them going up there and trying to put a fresh spin onto Golgi or Suzy or Hood. They've been playing those songs, in some cases, for 30 years! It's easy for us to imagine those four individuals as being "Phish" and, aside from an occasional side project album or tour, that's all they ever have been or ever will be. It's hard for us to reconcile that with their own imaginings of themselves, which (and this is pure speculation here) is a person first, a musician second, and a member of Phish third. Maybe they're tired of playing Phish music. Maybe, as musicians, they feel as though they've done all they can do as a creative unit. I think that would be understandable. At this point they may have, as hard as this is for us to understand or accept, musical aspirations and dreams that extend beyond being in Phish. At the halfway point of the 34th year of Phish, the only thing those four have left to prove is that they can recognize when the time has come to walk away and do so gracefully.

Exactly what I was implying. Well said. Thank you.

I think the greater point in that for us as fans is that we need (I should say I need; I'll keep it in first person and not presume on others here) to not only recognize what you are saying, but, just as the band must at some point realize this, we need to give them the freedom to say goodbye when the time comes.

I've been on a roller-coaster of emotions this tour. At times I've felt resentful, at times thankful, at times frustrated and at times simply languid and tired of it all. I can only imagine the genuine multiplication of these emotions which these gentlemen must deal with also.

Not only from a musical perspective, in terms of their relationship with us, but also, and perhaps more weighty, is the pressure to continue to perform in order to support the massive operation of payroll and family provision that is Traveling Phish.

This weight really became the death of Jerry Garcia and the Dead, as they literally crumbled before our eyes trying to meet the expectations of their fans and their entourage, when common sense should have dictated that they take a couple years off and let Jerry heal.

I hope it never comes to that.