@patper said:

I agree that phans are allowed to be critical but if somebody writes a long review like this and only states their opinion without offering any real musical analysis, then it shouldn't be on the front page of phish.net. Reviews should be as informative as they are an opinion piece.

This is typical of many comments in several respects.

First, it takes .net (or "the front page of .net" and puts it on a pedestal that isn't warranted. We treat our documentation efforts (setlists, song histories etc) for Phish's history "seriously" but I think too often folks are confusing us with the New York Times, who we are decidedly not. We want to provide content that folks find useful. News, opinion, serious, frivolous: it all has a place. We certainly don't take ourselves that seriously; blog posts are starting points for discussion, not "the official word" on anything.

Second, this approach presumes there is one type of "proper" review. Asserting that "reviews should be this" or "shouldn't be that" is just silly. The editors here are all for diversity of opinion: it is a fundamental premise of how we do business, as should be evident by the fact that basically every component of the site encourages user participation. If you want a site that only uses one approach to a style of review, or only reviews gigs positively or what have you, there are places for that. If that is what folks are looking for, you should explore other options; we're not going to conform to one style that you or anyone else may prefer.

The key point that is so often missed: a review from a .net staffer on the blog/front page is just one person's opinion. They do not reflect the views of the staff as a whole, and most importantly they do not presume to be some end-all "truth" on a gig or whatever is being discussed. If you disagree with the opinions offered, counter with some of your own (actually ideas, not "this review is invalid because it isn't the review I would have wrote" or "this review is invalid because you weren't there" etc). We provide a review section: go write one of your own. There is a forum: go post there. Have a different opinion *on the substance?* Offer it.

This isn't directed at anyone in particular, but so many of the blog comments just make fans seem like a bunch of insufferable whiners! Try to help make this a marketplace of ideas instead of a marketplace of people shitting on each other because they don't see something exactly as you do. The constant griping over what is the "right" way to talk about Phish is IMO stale, boring, and reflects poorly on the community. I'm not holding my breath but it would be awesome if as a community we could improve upon the current dynamic. Carry on.