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Taking the last part first, I'll agree that the very best of this year (Vegas1-3 are likely the three best shows of the year) can, for the most part, stand up to any era. But there's just no getting around the balance of 2016 being underwhelming IMO. Yes, things began to improve at the Gorge, though let's not forget, 3 of the 6 second sets from that run were either lackluster (Gorge2) or about as unexciting as Phish gets (BGCA3 & Forum). That inconsistency continued into the Fall (I'm still trying to figure out what happened in Dallas), but it wasn't just inconsistency, it was also the peaks of 2016 not matching the peaks of other years. Compare Randalls CDT>Light>Tweezer, Mann Fuego and Miami Ghost>Theme>Cities, OTOH, with, let's say, Dicks NMINML, ATL DWD, and BGCA Sally. It's not a fair fight from my standpoint. Fall 2013 is every bit on the level as 2015, so I'm not sure 2016 will make out favorably in that comparison either.
Anyway, you're free to disagree with all of the above. Phish opinions are just that. But most of us who continue to call this year subpar aren't doing so because we're focused only on one stretch of shows or due to a lack of historical perspective. We're doing it because we think it's underwhelming.