I can’t believe how little attention the set II opening stash from NYE 2003 has received (and to be honest, that show in general… but that’s a whole other thread). I find the spacy middle section to be absolutely gorgeous and far more purposeful than your general ambience. furthermore, the smooth movement back into more grounded playing is simply exquisite, as is the entrance back into the stash jam. to complete it all, it closes in a very powerful stash fashion (but features a HUGE release on a LOW note as opposed to the too typical high note releases).
this stash is never mentioned when people talk about the best post-hiatus jam, but i think it is better than all the usual candidates (although the nassau tweezer gives it a run for it’s money depending on my mood).
there are certain phish jams that sound as if they were truly composed, note for note with complete purpose in mind. this stash is one of them. the whole jam seems to know where it’s going and by the end it all seems to have come so full-circle and be a true hole (unlike a lot of great phish jams that kind of move from place to place until finally seguing into something else or fizzling out or just ending… like that nassau tweezer. that thing touches on so many musical landscapes it is amazing. but each one doesn’t necessarily sound like it inevitably came out of what came before it like the stash jam does).
anyway, i just need to hear some opinions on this version because it never seems to get talked about.
;D 
