...indeed the very idea of a 'standout' version of a song is (one might argue) only relevant to people who listen to so much phish that they don't wanna spend time on 'average' versions.

i wonder if the desire to 'fast-forward' young/new fans past the awkward adolescent stage of fandom -- where everything is The Best Ever OMG -- isn't counterproductive, especially now when you can instantly listen to any version of any song without waiting, without even literally fast-forwarding a tape...older fans love saying that things were in some ways better when you had to *wait* for your music, or make an effort to acquire it; but the same goes for familiarity and 'expertise' (whatever that means here). and jadedness, which definitely means something (bad).

the golden moment for me, as a fan, was that time when i was listening to all the phish i could, grateful for all of it, curious about every show. i cherry-picked which tapes to get, because tapes cost money, but it was all fantastic, because both familiar and new, and all of it was a blessing; you can't go back but why push further away from that? i think a *consumerist* attitude toward the music does that -- having music 'under your belt,' as if that had value except as a marker of how long you've been alive, which there are other ways of keeping track of, i think...

it irks me, somewhat, to hear the first set of NYE dismissed as 'going through the motions' -- that's not a bad thing! ask nomar garciaparra, right? the first set is part of the second set, which is part of the 3rd, part of the show, the Night. distinguished or not. and 'garden party' was a thing.

but it's not important. noobs: enjoy these shows!! they were performed competently by well-paid professionals who have children, and are (mostly) sober now, and don't take the same risks they took when they/we were young, but whose hard work on behalf of this band and the idea of it -- of us, right? -- is good and noble and can lift you up. i hope it does.