one (very flawed) metric to help contextualize 8.19.12 is the show's ranking here on phish.net. i've been watching the rating over the last two days and it is currently at #14 in the top 15. it has also been at #6 (earlier today) and #8 (and i'm not accounting for some shows on the list that share the same rating).

the difference between the #1 show, Big Cypress New Year's, and 8.19.12 is just over one tenth of a point. i'm not drawing any conclusions from that, just calling it out as potentially interesting.

the list is misleading b/c some shows on it do not have anywhere near the number of votes that 8.19 has -- seems like there ought to be some weighting system in place. there might be something to be said for the fact that 8.19 is hanging in there despite having almost three times as many voters as some of the other very high ranking shows on the list.

not making an argument one way or another for how the show ought to be placed in the pantheon, just calling attention to the metric for anyone who thinks all of us phish.net users get it right when we rank the shows (or for anyone who wants to use this ranking to suggest that maybe we don't ).

i was lucky enough to be there, and for me, it was unquestionably the best Phish show i've ever seen (got me to create this account after all these years!).