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Compare that to the Drive-In Jam, which isn't the same marker in time or inflection point as far as the band goes, but mainly because it *didn't have to be one*. By this point in 2015, not only had the band had those extra years of being able to go deep more consistently than not under their belt (cf. Fall 2013), but they'd also just come off of what many still consider their finest modern era tour, one in which they DID go longer than usual while retaining their improvisational chops. So what the Drive-In Jam got to be, then, was not so much a rebirth as a summation, a closing argument to where the band was at that point, so to speak. And it is a REMARKABLE argument indeed, improv that goes from dark to gloopy to what I'd called "material" in terms of how thick and detailed it was, unfailing in its creativity and interest level, one of the finest moments the band has ever cobbled together from a jamming standpoint. And even though we got even less examples of the Drive-In style after it was played (really, the 9/5 Light and 12/31 NMINML), the Drive-In Jam still looms large because of just how goddamn good it is. And that, to me, is the best thing you can say about it - it doesn't have to stand as anything important or meaningful to Phish's career at large. It's just a fucking awesome jam, man.
God, typing this all out just made me even more bummed we didn't get a Curveball secret set. It would've probably kicked 10,000 types of ass.