@play_it_leo89 said:

Sadly, I feel this sort of action is representative of a lot of the current fanbase. A distinction that seems to be becoming more and more important, I think, is the difference between Phish's fanbase and the Phish fan community. An action like this isn't something that would have been cheered on in the Phish fan community of old (think: 90s). And while it is fantastic that a lot of that community is speaking out about this, I fear that a lot of people will still find the video 'high-larious' and think they can score 'h3tty' points by doing the same. Because that's all it's about for a large percentage of the fanbase - looking cool to others. Look back at pictures and videos (I'm thinking specifically of the Rift promotional video) and you'll see very quickly that NOBODY looked cool then, or cared whether or not they did. It was always about the music, first and foremost, the live experience. THAT was the community. Now it's about "cred," as you said, and who can bitch and moan the most. It's not 'custies' vs. 'noobs', because either one can fit in either scene.

Community = about the music, about the experience, about the band, about each other
Fanbase = about themselves, about looking cool, about making the funniest 2nd post, about who can find the newest way to insult one another and talk about the reasons why the band currently 'sucks'.

Ok, just my 2� ... getting off my soapbox now.

A good corollary to this is the increasing number of young women who are literally wearing 200$ sun dresses to shows. I certainly don't remember that in the 90s.