(4) Thatch - 06/28/2025 vs. (13) Dustin Hoffman - 06/07/2025

Thatch clears pretty easily here

Colorado bias in full effect. This Dustin tries to do something but ultimately does nothing. Its not a jammer yet, SF made my list, this one didnt. Thatch is a proper Goose jam with build, emotion, and chops, arguably the best from that show.

I'm somewhat indifferent to picking one of these two jams to move on. Had both around the 40-50 range and that feels about right re-listening. Not that it matters to this matchup, but I find both jams in the other matchup to be more interesting. Going with the Hoff (shoutout @hoffbot) - this Thatch started high on my bracket post MSG and moved down steadily through the back half of the year. Great live moment and beautiful jam, but the Hoff has much more re-listenability for me.

Fwiw, most people commenting here that posted their lists on Bsky had this Thatch above the Hoffman in their rankings but are generally voting for the Hoff. So people are disregarding rankings, both the overall and their own. However, good luck trying to get the casuals to disregard MSG attendance bias. Ain't gonna happen.

People please disregard rankings. I feel people just rely on that. Make your own mind up. No preranking influencing voting needed moving forward.

Really lovely thatch towards the end. Does enough for this round

Dustin Hoffman summer repeat playlist all the way. At the 7 minute mark starts the melt down. Take a listen. That’s where it’s at.

Thatch just noodles too long to nowhere.

Callin the upset now.

I get the appeal of this DH, I like it, but it's more of a snack than a full meal. I also understand the points made about the Thatch jam being recycled, but I would argue that there is variation on a theme here and not an exact replica, and the bottom line for me is that this Thatch does "the thing" and does it very well. It gets there, it has those moments where everything locks into place and there is a kind of transcendence. That just speaks to me more than a somewhat slight albeit nice and interesting DH jam.

Not sure which of these I like better. They’re both great, but they both have stronger counterparts in the tournament. I love the Reba vibe they find in this Thatch, and there’s another very cool space they find a few minutes later... plus the last few minutes are just soaring and majestic. The Dustin Hoffman is great, and is fairly different from the San Francisco version… but this Thatch just has a little more meat on the bone.

love this DH, with Thatch teases, which is fitting since its up against the best Thatch of the year (imo)...part of an amazing first set in CO so will get its relistens many times regardless of early exit

Hoffman > Thatch. No chance because of the attendance bias. I attended MSG, not Fiddler’s, and this is an easy call.

I voted Hoffman here. In my opinion, this is the strongest of the Big Three Hoffmans despite being the shortest of bunch. I won't dispute that this Thatch is pleasing to the ear but the jam was a lot better when they played it the night before in the Gilford Rockdale.

This Dustin Hoffman was part of a fantastic overall show and set, and served as a fantastic spring board to launch into the Kate Bush cover. However, it didn't really do much as a jam at all. A good DH should always finish with a strong shredded bliss peak, I don't think it's the best vehicle for a lowkey jam. This Thatch kind of loses me in the middle, but once it starts to build back up it continually climbs and climbs. Sick jam.

Both votes today I am in the vast minority. MSG Thatch was great, was there, but the jam itself is not super noteworthy imo.

I had this Thatch ranked at #24 and Dustin ranked at #30.

But listening to these back-to-back, I decided to give my vote to the Hoff. It's the "best" (but not actually my favorite, that's San Fran) Dustin Hoffman of the year and while not necessarily an elite jam... it's still more interesting to me than this Thatch.

Goose has played an iteration of this Thatch jam probably around 10 times now. And they keep doing it because it is awesome, emotive, and feels good in the room. And I want to be clear I am not saying they should stop doing this because I do love it. But I also think there comes a point where you have to say "enough is enough" from a JOTY standpoint and when you're dealing with a recycled jam that was played many times prior, including the night before, without doing anything particularly new or interesting with it... what are we even doing here? The fact this particular iteration was played in front of a large number of people and happened to be the improv highlight of the night should have no bearing. But I fear it does.

just listening to this Dustin again. does anyone else hear a Thatch theme at early part of jam? around 1:03:00 if using nugs video app. Thought is was funny since it's matched up vs thatch

Was shocked this Hoffman was ranked so low. It has a nice psychedelic cruise that the band locks in on immediately and builds on in a way no other Hoffman has done this year. I wish they would have kept building on that fabulous interplay at the end before ripcording into Running Up That Hill. Ultimately, while leaving a little bit more to be desired in the end, they waste no time in the 10 minutes of jamming they have. I favor this originality and the ability to do a lot with little, over this Thatch, which I find unappealing in terms of JOTY because of it essentially being a recycled Gilford Rockdale jam that was played just a day earlier. Beautiful moment, yes. Original, fresh jam, no.

MSG Thatch was very pretty with excellent Rick guitar work. It’s not super unique or different but it’s still excellent. For me it narrowly defeats my favorite of the DH of the year.

THATCH THATCH THATCH THATCH THATCH THATCH THATCH THATCH THATCH THATCH THATCH THATCH THATCH THATCH THATCH THATCH THATCH THATCH THATCH THATCH THATCH THATCH THATCH THATCH THATCH THATCH THATCH THATCH THATCH THATCH THATCH THATCH THATCH THATCH THATCH THATCH THATCH THATCH THATCH THATCH THATCH THATCH THATCH THATCH THATCH THATCH THATCH THATCH

MSG Thatch gives me ear orgasms and goosebumps like no other since Mission Arcadia. My personal JOTY. And has absolutely nothing to do with "MSG bias," that's just nonsense. This one is magical.

This thatch was my number 1 for a lot of the year but ended up number 4. People may say it’s overrated or has attendance bias with MSG but this a full, beautiful jam. The early and middle sections are addicting with great work from Pete, and the bliss jamming at the end is special. This type of bliss playing from Rick has shown up in other jams (same genre as SPAC drive from ‘24 and 6/27/25 Rockdale which I ranked directly after it on my bracket this year) but I think this is my favorite of all of them. I find myself really focusing on cotter’s drumming in the final jam (and obviously rick) but specifically when cotter picks it up at the 16:30 mark at the same time rich picks up the guitar, that moment to the end gets me every time on relisten. Moments like these are the type of thing that get me coming back to a jam over and over again.

No shot it comes close to winning, but this Dustin is by far the more interesting jam here. MSG Thatch gets bolstered by the fact that it was played at the Garden and that Rick does an absolutely incredible guitar solo in it, but it's all stuff we've heard before.

Dustin, by contrast, is the most interesting version of the song played to date (imo) and has a really unique last few minutes with some AMAZING conversational interplay between Rick, Peter, and Trevor over Cotter's circular beat. Give them a listen before you vote!

Thatch = JOTY

Fantastic Thatch, prob the best jamming of MSG other than Red Bird.. but I loved this Dustin, thick melodic grooves and smooth Trevor hooks throughout.. I think its a matter of taste what kind of jamming you like which way you vote here.

That Thatch was incredible. I loved where it went and how it resolved.