Thanks Waxbanks AND Forbin... your comments in this thread have helped me understand 3.0 much more than I have thus far! Alot of what you've both said rings true. To combine a few thoughts from your posts:

I think we are compelled to love the MOMENT of any Phish show ("the show i download next is their latest show" ...but AFTER the moment, we can have the "statistical" fun-- compare the show, and the 3.0 era in general, to the past. But practicing only one of these types of fandom would be incomplete.

For me, this philosophy put into practice looks like this: Had a great time at both Amherst 2010 shows... I was totally in the moment...but upon listening back a few times, they won't be in my listening rotation. Same with most of Superball (with a few notable exceptions).