Simple solution. Relegate the task of rating shows to the Phish.net employees. When I started collecting shows, I had the Pharmer’s Almanac published after the end of 1.0 and Phish.net’s 2-cents Charlie as my primary guides.

The authors of the book and Charlie had enough experience listening to shows that I trusted their opinions and I filled in the gaps on my own.

There’s a review in the Almanac of a Sept ‘99 show where one review says the concert was great and the other review panned it. I listened to that tour and knew the negative guy was right as the band was sluggish and it was a tour low point. How many people rate the shows on Phish.net have only seen one or two shows on the tour or haven’t listened to all the others played previously?