@pzerbo said:

Folks, let's face it: the comments on show recaps have long-since jumped the shark. Write a positive, borderline fluffing recap; get slammed. Write a luke-warm recap; get slammed. Write a review from the couch; get slammed. Write about a personal experience from the show; get slammed.

!!UNMODERATED COMMENT THREAD IS UNMODERATED!!

1) So close comments on the recaps and stifle your urge to talk about it.

2) 'Lots of people follow links to our recaps and say nothing' is not the same as 'lots of people like exactly what we're doing.'

3) 99% of users here don't write/edit prose for a living. Nonexpert readers tend to know that they don't like something but tend not to express precisely, or even accurately, what they don't like. This recap really doesn't say much about the show at all -- most readers expect recaps to, y'know, recap what happened onstage. It's silly to say 'Don't talk about your private bullshit, talk in detail about something you were too intoxicated to accurately perceive much less describe in retrospect,' but that's the nearest complaint to hand. Can't blame someone for not liking your (site's) stuff.

That said, lack of civility is lack of civility (and you know from lack of civility, @pzerbo).

To repeat a suggestion: stop pretending the next-day recaps are musical analysis of any kind, and just provide Awesome Writing About Phish in whatever form, which would make room for whatever kind of thing this kind of thing is.

That'd at least make comments in the 'You guys are ungrateful children' vein less likely; they can't get any less useful or appreciated.