Howdy folks, I'd like to suggest that we don't vote down reviewers simply because we disagree with their reviews or because they're not doing nonstop hagiography. I love this forum but we seem to be very insecure about the slightest hint of criticism. There's a review of last night's spac show (which I attended and really liked, especially that killer Sally) that is emblematic of this insecurity, this need to shout down anyone who says anything other than "the boys were on fire last night and it raged." I'm going to quote the entire thing to show what a basically positive review it is:

"Phish does their Friday night party set and it mostly comes off without a hitch. Probably more fun to be at this one than listen back (which I haven't yet...so who knows?). It was a non stop dance party in the moment and relatively well balanced in my opinion. In my opinion, mid-first set is the PERFECT place for Fishman antics. Tube > Psycho Killer > Tube, HYHU > Cracklin' Rosie >HYHU was fun live but honestly nothing out of the ordinary. Again, the vibe was really great in the venue and we all had a blast! Not the most adventurous show of this tour by any means."

This is a *positive* review, and an honest one, but it now is at -3, and that's including my thumbs up, thrown in for balance. Let's use the thumbs-down for inappropriate comments but not for solid input with which we disagree. Sorry to be frank, but it just feels juvenile to me to vote down an A- review because it wasn't A+. Reviewers should be able to speak their mind without censure.

Just voted the review up.

I agree, there is always the comments section for those who disagree or feel that they need to add something. Voting a review down just because you feel differently about the show is the wrong way to use such a feature.

hey that was my review! thanks folks. I noticed a bunch of thumbs down on the comments of the SPAC 1 recap. do you think it's the heathen invaders, haven't seen that too much on here.

-1 should be reserved for misogyny, racism, homophobia, bullying, general uncoolness

peer moderation

I wouldn't vote it down but how is playing Cracklin Rosie for the first time since '99 "Nothing out of the ordinary"?

Yep, I've had some negative reviews voted down. It didn't really bother me. If a person blindly believes that every phish show is the greatest thing ever and that no one in that band can have an off night, I don't care what you think about me or my review because I don't think that type of person is intelligient.

Right. But id say any bust out could be "out of the ordinary" especially since they had just played a HYHU recently. I guess it's just a word choice. Either way I agreed with the review. We shouldn't really even have a voting section for reviews IMO. Just have them moderated by flagging offensive items. It stifles criticism to allow people to vote it down.