In order:

-8/19/12 Light
-9/14/11 Soundcheck (the first jam, starting around 8:20 on this youtube video)
-8/12/10 Drowned

Theme is jams that took place in leg 2 of a summer tour.

@wforwumbo said:

In order:

-8/19/12 Light
-9/14/11 Soundcheck (the first jam, starting around 8:20 on this youtube video)
-8/12/10 Drowned

Theme is jams that took place in leg 2 of a summer tour.

I am blown away that you solved this without figuring out the theme!

If you listen through the entirety of those jams, particularly the end of the Drowned, I bet you'll recognize the real theme I was after...

(There is no requirement for getting the theme correct so no worries there)

@uctweezer said:

@wforwumbo said:

In order:

-8/19/12 Light
-9/14/11 Soundcheck (the first jam, starting around 8:20 on this youtube video)
-8/12/10 Drowned

Theme is jams that took place in leg 2 of a summer tour.

I am blown away that you solved this without figuring out the theme!

If you listen through the entirety of those jams, particularly the end of the Drowned, I bet you'll recognize the real theme I was after...

(There is no requirement for getting the theme correct so no worries there)

Wow! Nice theme! I was "waiting all night" for the answer!!!
(Sorry, Dad joke!.)

Man, the jam on the tail end of that Drowned is gorgeous. No jam chart love?

That third jam is very Wingsuit-y. Perhaps the genesis of Fuego songs is the theme?

@HarborSeal said:

Man, the jam on the tail end of that Drowned is gorgeous. No jam chart love?

Honestly, most of Phish's best jams (in my opinion) aren't charted. The jam charts are a good start, but for a number of years now I've found that the choicest cuts are buried deep within shows and tours. I kinda prefer it that way, as it encourages me to explore more off the trodden path. I'm happy to share if anyone wants some solid stuff not found on the charts - get in touch with me and we'll get the ball rolling from there.

And for everyone out there, pete has filled me in on what the theme is. I'll let y'all try to figure it out before he announces tomorrow.

Nice choices this week. Funny enough, I was going to listen to that 8/19/12 set II again today as I never fully understood the nut busting that occurred when the show was first played. Listened to 12/2/97 instead. What a beaut. Ironically, listened to that 9/14/11 soundcheck a couple of days ago. Later in the soundcheck, they jam and the sound is a dead ringer for Wombat. I've always liked this SBD because Trey's guitar sounds so clear and "poppy" and full of life.

@wforwumbo said:

@HarborSeal said:

Man, the jam on the tail end of that Drowned is gorgeous. No jam chart love?

Honestly, most of Phish's best jams (in my opinion) aren't charted.

I wouldn't go so far as to say most but there are definitely hundreds of great jams not on the charts.

@TwiceBitten said:

@wforwumbo said:

@HarborSeal said:

Man, the jam on the tail end of that Drowned is gorgeous. No jam chart love?

Honestly, most of Phish's best jams (in my opinion) aren't charted.

I wouldn't go so far as to say most but there are definitely hundreds of great jams not on the charts.

Yes, but there is a treasure trove of phenomenal versions of songs that aren't charted throughout the catalog. For example, let's look at my favorite jam vehicle - Bathtub Gin. While a few of my top 10 are charted (9/22/99, 7/20/98, 7/25/97), there's an equally large number of what in my opinion are glaring omissions (11/4/98, 8/9/98, 6/30/99, 8/16/98, 6/10/00); meanwhile, other versions I'd put below these omissions are charted (12/7/99, 11/20/98, 8/26/16... and so on). Moving on to my second-favorite jam vehicle, Ghost has a similar thing going on where some stellar versions are charted - though not always recommended (7/23/99 which is my favorite jam, 8/2/98, 7/30/99, 7/19/16), and other gems (mostly 3.0 - 12/31/12, 10/25/13, 6/4/09, 10/19/13, 6/9/09, 8/14/09) are uncharted; this is compounded by other versions of Ghost that I'd put below the versions I just mentioned existing on the chart above these (10/15/98, 7/8/16, 12/11/99, 8/26/16, 7/1/12, 8/7/15, 8/16/97, 7/26/14, 11/28/09... you get the idea). Note I'm not saying that the charted jams I've just mentioned aren't bad, I just think if they're on, there are others that DO deserve to be on the charts in addition.

The patterns I've mentioned above hold for most of my favorite jam vehicles and jams as a whole.

Now all this being said, I'm not sure I'd really change the jam charts as a whole. For one thing, Phish's music is so subjective, it's hard to pin down what exactly does or does not make a version jam-chart-worthy, let alone notable or highly recommended. I mean, that's not even to discuss what style of jamming people may prefer - do you want chaotic and frenzied and high-energy? Funktastic or plinko dance party? Goopy, grimy, dark, and dissonant? Space jazz? My personal favorite - swirly, melty, psychedelic, modal bliss heaven? Another form of jamming I haven't mentioned? At the end of the day the jam charts are a decent jumping-off-point if you want to explore a song, a tour, a year, or a jamming style. For another, I HIGHLY respect the work of the stewards of the jam charts - it seems like a lot of work to compile, annotate, and continuously update. As a third point, to me it also adds to the allure of discovering a truly deep jam that's off-the-beaten-path - while this isn't necessary for a jam to be amazing, in my opinion it's nice to add another page in my personal catalog of jams that isn't well-known and over-discussed.

What's the theme?

Is it from the bottom?
From the top?

@GottaJibboo said:

What's the theme?

Is it from the bottom?
From the top?

Since he hasn't chimed in, I'll copy/paste what @uctweezer sent me:

After what was perceived by fans as a writers block, and all previous albums being mostly Trey + Tom collaborations with maybe a Mike or Page song sprinkled in, the band scrapped their old approach and began a collaborative songwriting process in 2013. They started by rooting through Mike's notebooks (in which he writes about each show) for recent jams he found particularly cool. They relistened to those sections, and reshaped them into songs that debuted on 10/31/13 as Wingsuit:

- the 8/19/12 "Light" had a section that was written into "555" – that particular section was played publicly only once, during the "555" debut on 10/31/13, and left on the cutting room floor for the album and all subsequent versions
- the 8/12/10 "Drowned" had a section that became "Waiting All Night"
- the 9/14/11 Soundcheck had a section that became "Fuego," and other sections that may have been the geneses of "Wombat" and "Wingsuit."

The theme for this week's MJM is "jams that became songs on Fuego / Wingsuit."

Sorry guys, got overwhelmed at work / home yesterday, but I'm working on my post now. Thanks to @wumbo for posting basically what I am going to post!

Be sure to check out the hyperlinks in the posted answer above, especially if you've never heard those early sections! (Plus it took me forever to track them all down and get the time stamped links proper and embedded)