@lumpblockclod said:

@12_29_97_4eva said:

For the record, MSG1 Set 2 was one of my favorite sets of the year, but my opinion is that the show as a body of work doesn't belong in the Top 10, especially over a complete show like MPP1.

That's certainly a defensible view. As a group, we tend to favor tent-pole jams and complete second sets. When I look at MSG1 vs MPP1, I think the Gin, which is merely the second best jam of MSG1 would likely be the top jam of MPP1. As @J_D_G said, that's just incredibly hard to overcome. Having said that, if you read the intro, we also said that in many ways deciding between shows #5-14 was really tough and the order of those shows should be taken with a grain of salt.

I won't disagree with you about the 12/30 Gin and Chalkdust being better jams than the 8/15 46 Days and Piper. But then you're admitting that the only criteria we're using to judge a Phish show is the strength of its top jams. That's fine if we want to make that the criteria, but I don't think you or any of us really want to judge a Phish show strictly on that basis (I'm still sticking to Steinberg's criteria - jams, bustouts, antics...plus intangibles!).

Anyway, yes, you're right that shows 5-14 are generally a toss up, but some are a bit more of a toss up than others. You could also make the case 8/15 belongs in the Top 4 or 5. Debate is fun! Let's keep this going.