(1) Thatch - 05/30/2025 vs. (16) Arcadia - 02/06/2025

Remember also that that beautiful Arcadia was their first full show as a four-piece band, and the first night with Goedde bending lights.

But, alas, it is going to get crushed. I voted for Arcadia so it wouldn’t feel bad 🤣😂🤣 Participation trophies available for you too, if you ask nicely

The distance between the 2 are not as far as 1-16. But sorry Arcadia I like ya. It’s tuff. Ya know.

The BEND THATCH! This thing is a monster. The band went to so many different spaces in this thing. It gets better with every listen for me. This one should be a contender for final 4 when all said and done.

I guess if you just really liked Arcadia and don't like Thatch as much then you might vote for Arcadia here, treating this like a song of the year bracket instead of the jam of the year bracket that it is

But there are roughly 25% of the voters so far that I have a hard time believing actually listened to both of these

This Thatch may very well be the jam to win it all. It doesn’t have any controversial dissonance or blissy repetition that people obsessively gripe about. It is its own unique jam that perfectly flows without going in places people can complain about. If you removed the bracket and instead sat every Goose JOTY voter in a room and locked them in it until they could all agree on a JOTY, I would bet my money on this one winning it. Completely forgot about this Arcadia because of all the juggernauts from February but this was spectacular. Beautiful push to that iconic peak and really nice laid back first half. It will not and should not win but serves a great reminder that Arcadia can and should be a jam vehicle.

Damn that Arcadia slaps. But the Thatch still wins out.

Sentimental fave with Thatch...my first show of the year, and the first of 4 in 5 weeks. It was just a perfect summer evening, beautiful venue, great crowd, good vibes all around.

Voting Thatch here because it's effing sick (and my no. 10 overall). But we'll have time to chat about it later.

I'm so glad this Arcadia (my no. 47 overall) made the bracket, and I'm so glad we got two legit Arcadia jams this year (this one and Toronto). This jam is short, but it's delicate and emotive. It reminded me a bit of Legend Valley Creatures 6/10/22. Peter finds a pretty-and-catchy one-handed melody on the piano, and then Rick picks up on it, and then the whole band coalesces around it and creates something beautiful. It's fun to hear the band slowly find their way onto the same page like that.

Unrelated: Props to @6R0M7 for this gem of jam-band wisdom. "'Look, ma, I can create gratuitous dissonance the resolution of which will garner unearned credit” stupid pet jamband trick." PREACH.

As 6R0M7 has pointed out, this Thatch might be the default winner after all the February Madh lovers get in a JOTY gunfight with the Westville AIN crowd and we're just left with people who love good jams.

I'm an east coast guy but traveled out for Bend, Spokane and Boise. Glad I did. As the boys came back from setbreak a guy behnd me said "I'd love a 30 minute Thatch out of setbreak!" Boom.

Fun Thatch and they explore some very neat improv space, probably the "better" jam by improv standards, but I like the Arcadia jam more so that gets my vote :)

Goedde Arcadia magic ---> https://youtu.be/Dy2tMNQ3g0A?si=ej1gC18kz87IhyIm

Thatch - always good. Arcadia - also always good. This is about as close of a matchup that a #1 vs #16 could be. That being said, this Thatch is sick and gets the W for me. Of all the #1 seeds in the tournament it's probably my least fave, so it won't go the distance, but it's still damn good. I really love when Goose goes metal and the backend metal jam is fire.

I remember when I heard this Arcadia back in Feb and thinking oh man here comes 25 Goose! So good. However the opponent is the JOTY

I've got this Thatch up against the Grand Rapids Madhuvan in the finals. Probably don't need to say much more.

I don't love this Thatch as much as most (was #25 in my rankings) but it is very good, and this Arcadia is nice but not in the same league jam-wise.

Love this Thatch. Thought it was great while couch touring and it's held up very well since then. Best one of the year? Maybe so, maybe not. But it's got the chops to be a worthy opponent if it makes it through here.

Arcadia is good and all, but good lord I cannot stand the utter buffoon that is chomping it up during the first few mins if the jam. If you're in here, Mr Blabber Mouth, I hope you always have a pebble in your shoe that you can never get out.

This Thatch could go all the way and I wouldn't be mad about it

This Thatch has a very good chance to upend any finalist. Just a great tone through the first portions of the jam and then the build and close. I think all JOTYs need to have “some” structure as almost all previous champs do. I see this and 2/15 Mad in the final

First, let’s pour a preemptive one out for this deeply underappreciated Arcadia, only lower-ranked because of the midwestern company it kept. Excellent use of dynamics while grooving in its China Cat–like space. Shame to see it go so early.

As for this Thatch, ::: cracks knuckles :::

At 5, this was my highest-ranked 2 seed. I don’t think it does anything perfectly, and I expect moments of perfection from one seeds. But it does many many things very very well. They find a melodic hook early, pass it around, interpolate it, _naturally_ ease into some darker tension, and resolve into a brighter phase. One of the better examples of telepathic quarteting from a year with many. And all the while dispensing with the gimmicky “look, ma, I can create gratuitous dissonance the resolution of which will garner unearned credit” stupid pet jamband trick.

I postulated that Bend Thatch could be the consensus jam of the year, and I’m prepared to start building around it a coalition of the willing. By the time this is over, the FIFA peace prize will be mine!?!

Still wouldn't be mad if Thatch won the bracket

Bendy Thatch to take down all the madhuvans this year

Maybe an unpopular opinion but this Arcadia is getting my vote. This jam just makes me so damn happy.

Edit - I listened to both again and I’m sticking to this. The way they draw down and build back up to this ripping jam after the beautiful major key bliss is just awesome on every level and why I fell in love with this band. Literally danced in my kitchen couldn’t help it.

Let’s get a Cinderella story going!!!

GOAT Thatch, dont @ me. It was all anyone would talk about in Spokane and Boise, with good reason.