This frame positions Phish by indicating where they and various other bands fall in the
Rolling Stone-defined hierarchy of music and culture, while providing reference points for processing and comparing information. This frame, combined with the next and its subframes, contributes to the continual construction of a rock and roll/jamband hierarchy that clearly defines the Grateful Dead at the top of a first generation, Phish clearly at the top of a second generation, and a third generation that apparently has no single leader, but a narrow pack of contenders.
Further evidence arises in the discussion of the four subframes revealed through RQ2.
This frame has always been present in coverage of Phish, as it is a common tool of music criticism. In particular, the frame has evolved such that Phish was once just a peer to fellow
H.O.R.D.E. tour bands, such as Blues Traveler and Spin Doctors. As Phish’s success grew and they became “America’s Biggest Jam Band,” Dave Matthews Band appears to have become the group best suited for comparison as a contemporary peer, if even a cultural match and not a musical one. Meanwhile, Phish also became a more frequent reference in coverage of other bands.
Despite persistent references to the Grateful Dead, coverage of Phish evolved to the extent that the Vermont quartet became an occasional reference in coverage of seemingly Phish- like successors. Through the same sort of vocabulary that often links Phish to the Grateful Dead, one article called Umphrey’s McGee “leading contenders for Phish’s jam-smeared crown” who were “odds-on favorites in the next-Phish sweepstakes” (Fricke, 2004, p. 74). A Disco Biscuits album review stated, “The rave-schooled Disco Biscuits have been among Phish’s heir apparents for a decade now” (Hermes, 2010, p. 76). “Of all the Dead Jr., extended-Phish-family bands,
Moe. are among the few whose composing approaches that kind of focused greatness” (Fricke,
1998-1999, p. 159), read another review. Other passages fitting this frame included references to
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