@cglushko said:

Thanks, everyone for the feedback. If I have time, I'll respond more tomorrow, but for now I just want to make a few points.

1) In a perfect world, this would have been a list of whole show reviews. It was painful to not include things like the Alpine Fee, A/C Wolfmans, Jones Beach Skin it Back, Worcester Roses, SPAC Light Up, etc. But in the end, it was nearly impossible to be objective on the first sets. Since the first sets are largely song-based, with the exception of a few shows, rating would come down to sets with my favorite setlists. That's just too subjective.

2) I have nothing against Bug. I've even grown to not hate Caspian as much as I did in the 90s. But this list is about ranking. Therefore, comparisons have to be made. The Bug and Caspian don't make shows like Deer Creek1 a bad show. But what makes a set better -- a late set Bug and Caspian or a late set Ghost or Sally? There's nothing wrong with a ballad, but when other factors are even, typically the set that keeps up the heat is going to get the nod.

3) The only shows on this list that I would consider weak shows are in the first two divisions. And, it's even a bit of a stretch to call the Heineken Division "weak." As I said at the top, shows that ranked 15-10 just on this one leg would have been top ten shows in all of 2010 or 2011. That's the whole point of this list -- that there is so much depth compared to the last couple years. For example, I think both nights of Alpine are fantastic. It just so happens this was a really good tour and when forced to put the shows in order, I think there are 10 shows that are even better.

Cheers,

Chris

appreciate the time you put into this piece and enjoyed reading it, i just cant understand how you have alpine night one so far down the list. i mean from pretty much start to finish it was flawless one of the better sets i heard in a longg time. im baffled