Not taking anything away from Dick's, which I thought was great. I've now listened to all of Dick's twice in entirety, and SPAC a good 5 or 6. I like the flow to SPAC more.
Night 1 Dick's was cute, and the crowd energy brilliant, but flow? Night two, just fine. Night three? Sand! Yes. I'll go ahead and say it's my favorite (I detest using words like better and best int the absolute when there is so much variability in the listeners). In fact I think the whole Sand/Ghost/Piper is brilliant. 20 years later, I can do without. Sure I can rationalize that they needed to breathe after those first three songs, but...
And I can really do without Ride Captain Ride.

I do enjoy the recap - well written and insightful. I particularly echo the willingness of the band to go there, to explore, safety nets be damned. I just wish we could get away from having to rank them in some sort of absolute way. Much like food, what is "best" depends on the moment you are listening, the mood of the listener, the listening environment.
Let's stick with favorites and be clear that our judgments are our own and can change from moment to moment. That being said, maybe Dick's will grow on me. (ahem)

On a side note, will someone define for me the 1.0/2.0/3.0 thing?
While I've only been to 40 or 60 shows, they are scattered throughout their history, beginning at the campus club in ’87 or '88 (age revealed). I imagine that early time period is now referred to as 1.0? And I imagine 3.0 begins after the break-up. But when does 2.0 start? Or are these classifications more style classifications that are not as much rooted in time periods?

And speaking of the campus club, I have a distinct memory of a skin-headed Trey. Can anyone confirm?