Nice job! I think the stats you compiled corroborate that Yonder was truly a group effort & likewise was another situation of “the whole being greater than the sum of its parts” as Billy alludes to.
Even if Jeff wasn’t “prolific” (in the sense of penning a disproportionate number of tunes under his belt, or instrumentally far far beyond anyone), his improvisational interplay was a major driving force of what I believe was the band’s strong suit … “taking songs for a different walk in the woods each time” vs. being mostly an arrangement based band.
As to Jeff’s banter & being a “frontman”, I always thought he was kind of a bit over the top as a “ham” on stage. I suppose a similar thing about "whole > sum of parts: when Jeff & Sam share the stage … for some reason, two hams together makes it work far better than just one.
Otherwise:
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As much as I’m not a fan of the tarp situation, I really don’t believe it’s a factor … since nothing has changed in recent years on this front & tickets still sold out within hours. I highly doubt people were weighing this after having purchased a ticket. I was actually considering waiting it out a few days after Santa Clara and hit up High Sierra on Thursday / Friday for SCI, and heard about how their land rush is also pretty competitive – which is a big turn off for me, but in the end, I realized it’s not a make or break aspect of my decision to go or not (rather not going because too much time & $$$).
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Another point to consider: PB accepts returns, which I noticed there was a re release of 4-day passes at some point earlier in the year. So, it’s possible this aspect allows a safety net for people to buy more tix up front “to be safe”. I’d be curious to see what would happen if PB no longer offered refunds?
I don’t think anybody going to poo poo seeing the core crew in Telluride … and likewise, once you’re committed, our minds naturally support such a decision as a matter of human nature. So, I do find OP’s framing of the question in a constructive manner - which some might have been thinking, but afraid to put forth - to be a great constructive question. As memorable as Winwood and Fogerty were, I’d also hate to see another M&S surge of crazy demand … it makes things difficult. So even though I see how there’s a happy medium to walk, it still almost seems like a big act fell through at the last minute & the decision was made to simply run with things as they are.