@lonesome_sparrow said:

Why is it that the consensus seems to be that Phish has to stretch everything out ad infinitum in order to have successful jams?

There is no such consensus. You set up a "consensus" so that you can come to the rescue with a "counter" argument. It is called a straw man, an oft-used device around here. This one was particularly bizarre given that the recap to which you are responding was kind in the extreme (one might even say it had hints of over-the-top fluffery) to a show that in the clear light of day was extremely fun but was clearly light on the beef.

Carry on. ::sigh::