I got in to Phish in 2003 via the Bittersweet Motel documentary. Being a huge ELP, King Crimson, Yes and Gentle Giant fan, I glommed on to their prog stuff like The Curtain With, Fluffhead and Divided Sky immediately. When I got in to the live recordings thing, it was 1993 and 1994 that I liked most (and still do) because that kind of stuff was still played a lot and they nailed 'em most of the time.

Now, I get it, they're a part-time band, the days of constant 8 hour practice sessions are long gone. Short of them becoming a full-time band again, that's not going to change. However, when they botch stuff that even I can play like Horn, it's a little depressing. Yes, Trey flubs suff, but so do Jon and Mike. Jon will lose the pulse and do a fill that doesn't fit and it throws the rest of the band off. Mike will not play a part right, it throws Trey off. Etc. etc. Their voices are rougher now too, Page especially can't hit the notes he used to.

Another thing that's different from the 1993/94 stuff is that they play some of the songs at a slower tempo, almost if they're slowing it down a bit to cut down on the mistakes. Stuff that they use to rip through like the instrumental break after the vocals in Reba now sounds tentative and cautious. Oh well, still love them, I'd have gone to the two Forum shows if I wasn't completely broke.