This is a great question.
Beats 22, 20, 18, 16, 14, 12, 10
Throw out 2004 and 2000 since those years got cut off (though I’d take the highlights from either over 2024 without hesitation).
That takes you to 1998. If you consider that Island Tour was part of the 1997 touring year, you *might* have to go back to 94. Though I’m not as big of a 1998 fan as others. #Phish
from @triplenineteen https://shakedown.social/@triplenineteen/112939110108044074
@chopaganda @triplenineteen How does one consider the Island Tour as part of ‘97 tour? Curiosity kills cats, ya know.
@bethbjammin @triplenineteen The Island Tour was added ad-hoc to squeeze a few quick shows in. The gear and light rig was 97. The song arrangements were 97. When Summer 98 started, they had some new gear, an updated light rig, and new arrangements for a bunch of tunes that debuted in 97.
So while the shows may have fallen in the calendar year of 98, they were really more of an extension of the 97 band.
@chopaganda
@bethbjammin @triplenineteen
I subscribe to this theory. In almost all ways (save a couple song debuts), Island Tour felt more like a coda to NYE 1997 than a prelude to summer 98.
@chopaganda @triplenineteen superb question about even year phish.
even without the last 2.5 months, 2000 deserves hefty consideration. but if you want to dq it for sake of argument, 98’s jamming style would also be a tough competitor; personally it hits all my sweet spots even if the shows from 98 don’t have that “best year glow” about them.
eye on the prize takeaway: 2024 has been a bang up year for these old dudes. amazing!
@justinbruce @chopaganda @triplenineteen And really that should be our main take-away from this conversation. We’re discussing if this is one of the best tours of their career for a 40+ year old band. What other group is this exciting and new this deep in their career?
@aburtch @chopaganda @triplenineteen amen to that. they’re not agile and bursting at the seams, because it’s not 1995, but they’re crafty as hell and have seen some stuff, and are leveraging their “sharks sink if they stop swimming” creative sense of adventure to our full advantage.
I’d take the best jams from 10, 12, 14, 16, and 18 over anything from 2024. It’s been a really fun tour so far, but just like most everything from 4.0, it just doesn’t hold up on tape very well. Almost ZERO hose from 2021-2024 IMO
@Bandino @triplenineteen I was with you on 4.0 until Spring 2023. I think while many of the really long jams lack the hose and replay value I like, many of them also get there now. Soul Planet and the STL Tweezer from this tour are great examples.
Even if you’re right, I’d still take the best jams of 3.0 over 4.0 any day.
@chopaganda @Bandino @triplenineteen I go back to Fall ‘21 a lot. That was a great tour.