Permalink for Comment #1375939916 by n00b100

, comment by n00b100
n00b100 Thank you to @TheRealBurnham for running this; voting was a lot of fun, as was the discussion.

A few points:
1. I do kinda wish more people had voted, just to open up the sample size a little bit more. I doubt the 7/31/13 Tweezer would have been #1 in that case (though I'm pretty sure it'd still be high up there), which would negate what I can only assume will be a *lot* of bitching about that. More on that in a sec.

2. The actual top 7 jams are absolutely respectable selections for the inner tier (yes, even the goddamn fucking Providence Bowie). Can you make arguments against them being in there over something like Tweezabella or the Fukuoka Twist or the Radio City Ghost? Sure, of course. Can you really say that any of these jams are egregious selections that 100% should not be there? IMO, definitely not.

3. My guess on no Cypress jam making it in either tier is because a bunch of different Cypress jams split the vote. This, I imagine, will be taken as another reason why Cypress is the best show - all the great jams that nobody can reach a consensus on. I argue that it's the reason why Cypress is so overrated - a bunch of very good jams that can sound somewhat similar, to the point where distinguishing them can be tough (although, really, the best jam is Sand -> Quadrophonic Topplings IMO).

4. I find it interesting that @FrankStallone's throwing out the old canard about the Tahoe Tweezer being ranked this high because it's a long jam, especially - *especially* - because the ever-present anvil that hangs over 3.0's heads is that they don't play long jams anymore. I have to note the comment about that summer "lacking in jams to that point" - we'd already gotten the SPAC Melt, SPAC Carini, Jones Beach Tweezer -> Cities -> The Wedge, Alpharetta CDT, MPP Light -> Boogie On, MPP Stash, and some good jams in Chicago. Those are all jams, last I checked, and darn fine ones to boot. But what aren't they? 20-minute plus jams. Which, of course is the rub.

I mean, what else would you expect? Tell the 3.0 fanbase that their incarnation isn't special or that they're not getting real Phish or this or that because they don't play 20 minute jams (they had, already, in 3.0, but let's ignore that inconvenient point), and OF COURSE when they break a half hour people are gonna go bonkers. But here's the thing - that 30 minute jam also happens to contain *extraordinary* music, glorious music, and lots of it (30 minutes is a long time!). As always, @waxbanks said it better than me - there's a good deal of great music in 2013; the Tahoe Tweezer isn't head and shoulders above all of it (as @FrankStallone also mentions, the Hampton Tweezer is superb and I wouldn't be too annoyed if you said you preferred it to Tahoe's). But THAT much exceptional music, all in one epochal jam? Tough to beat. Quibble with it being voted above every other Phish jam ever, but I don't see how you can quibble with it being in *any* of the HOF tiers.

Honestly, I'd say the Tahoe Tweezer being #1 is mainly due to the (relative) unfamiliarity with 3.0, and that if most folks have heard a jam from 2009-14, it's that one. The Gorge Rock & Roll not being in any tier steams my mustache more than the Tahoe Tweezer receiving the most votes.

5. As for the Hall of Fame "eligibility" period, a) we're talking jams, not humans (as has been somewhat angrily pointed out to me before when I analogized concerts to NBA sports teams), and b) the "eligibility" period makes no real sense when we're talking about *the best of the best jams*. Are Phish going to play anything in the remainder of their career that is SO FAR above the Tahoe Tweezer to render it along the lines of, I dunno, a random 2010 Disease or 1996 Mike's Song? No, probably not (though I'd love it). Let's say we ARE talking about humans - what good does it do to make Pedro Martinez wait 7 years for the Hall when he could die then? Isn't he a Hall of Fame pitcher from the moment he retires? Nobody's talking about sticking the 7/16/13 CDT (which I adore) in the Phish HOF - the two jams that made it are almost certainly the most famous and beloved jams of this iteration, give or take a Gorge Rock & Roll or Miami Disease.

By the way, does this mean we can get a 25 year waiting period on voting for jams from 1.0 and 2.0?

6. I'm *really* surprised that the 6/18/94 Bowie is in there - not because I don't love it (I definitely do - way, WAY more than Providence's), but because I'd never heard it brought up as *that* level of elite jam before. It's kinda cool, actually.

7. As to a Reba not making the cut - a) which would it be, and b) what unbelievable Tweezer or era-defining Gin or killer Ghost would you knock out to put in its place? I love Reba, I truly do, but not even my favorite ones (10/31/94, 10/19/10, 7/6/94) I would consider anywhere near any of the 26 jams that make up the three tiers.


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