After disappearing on the back of the ancient Kraken into the horizon on Friday night, Widespread Panic stumbled back on stage to continue their conquest for musical bounty and precious treasures. The audience returned after a long night of merrymaking in several of the cities’ finest grog shops looking slightly more haggard than the previous night.
The boys began with Jerry Joseph’s co-written tune “Time Zones” as an opener for the first time in Panic history, which transitioned smoothly into the swinging Bloodkin song “Who Do You Belong To?.” JoJo’s keys and Herring’s guitar licks carried over introducing a bouncing “Tall Boy” with JoJo and JB sharing lead vocal duties. After a lengthy conclusive jam, the band settled into a casual stroll with “Walkin’ (for your love)” with Schools and JoJo providing backup vocals and a rare stop in the middle of the song. JoJo’s keys led into the psychedelically, epic “Pigeons” which featured John Bell positing “We’ve been wondering – will we ever know the truth?” and Jimmy Herring swabbing the decks with the brains of the audience.
As the energy exploded, John Bell metamorphized into a giant, shrieking pigeon and Dave Schools trapped the unfortunate souls of the people riding the rail with his deadlock stare and ever-blowing hair. With a blink of the White Wizard’s eye, all was restored as the music trickled into the creepy piano-led introduction of Robert Johnson’s “Me and the Devil Blues.” John Bell sung so hauntedly, glowing in red light, it made you wonder if JB had a similar personal relationship with the devil, for as legend has it, Robert Johnson sold his soul in exchange for guitar playing abilities at the crossroads of Highways 49 and 61 in Clarksdale, Mississippi.
For only the fifth time since its debut at Panic en la Playa 7, the Panics played a suave version of the new original “Sundown Betty” before accelerating the set further with a straight to the heart cut of War’s “Slippin’ into Darkness” in which Herring electrified and crew member Steve Lopez contributed his percussive skills once again. To close the set, the boys jammed a dancin’ “All Time Low” complete with an extended cruise at warp speeds with the White Wizard before disappearing beneath the crest of the stage.
The boys returned from set break through the clouds of cannonball smoke to continue their tribute to fallen fan Pace Taylor with “Heaven”, a cover of Talking Heads that JB sang beautifully. The Panics haven’t opened the second set with this tune since 1995. A spirited “Ain’t Life Grand?” was followed by a rustic “Holden Oversoul.” “Life During Wartime”, another Talking Heads song, presented Jimmy Herring a chance to contest Zeus with his lightning bolt throwing abilities. The audience responded ravenously as the band stepped back to give some space before thrashing a momentous “Papa’s Home” with a ferocious drum break in the middle. After the Sonny Ortiz and Duane Trucks gave their respective drum kits a thorough beatdown, the rest of the band returned to smash the rest of the “Papa’s Home” sandwich to completion.
The band segued into an ethereal version of “Blue Indian” that led into a stampeding “Big Wooly Mammoth” with Schools leading the charge and the omnipresent JoJo Hermann tearing up the keys and lead vocals. To close the second set, the Panics foreshadowed their upcoming gigs in Wisconsin with a shred-tastic rendition of Jerry Joseph’s “North”.
When Widespread Panic casually sauntered back onstage for the encore, which was a zealous version of Murray McLauchlan’s “Honky Red.” The blistering-hot pit began to resemble Hades’s underworld with ghoulish arms flailing to the rowdy tune. They concluded the second night with Jerry Joseph’s in solemn tribute to Pace Taylor, who’s family was celebrated throughout the evening. (For letters exchanged between Pace’s mother and John Bell, read here.) It was poignantly appropriate when John Bell sung the humbly truthful lyrics: “We must grab each others collar, we must rise out of the water. And you know as well as I do it’s no fun to die alone.”
At concerts, the energy is palpable and life seems infinite that trickles as time possesses a slow-moving viscosity. Last night, Widespread Panic reminded everyone in attendance to stop, appreciate one and another, and take the time to celebrate life in its natural, raw state. The boys walked off stage in a slow, procession with shoulders bearing the weight of the world as they retake the stage of the St. Augustine Amphitheatre once last time before heading “North” for Milwookie.
Slippin’ Into Darkness
[Video: Fred Ramaden]
Life During Wartime
[Video: Fred Ramaden]
You can listen to an audio stream of Widespread Panic’s first night in St. Augustine via PanicStream here.
Setlist: Widespread Panic | St. Augustine Amphitheatre | St. Augustine FL | 9/14/18
I: Time Zones, Who Do You Belong To?, Tall Boy, Walkin’ (For Your Love), Pigeons, Me and The Devil Blues, Sundown Betty, Slippin’ Into Darkness, All Time Low
II: Heaven, Ain’t Life Grand > Holden Oversoul, Life During Wartime, Papa’s Home > Drums > Papa’s Home, Blue Indian, Big Wooly Mammoth, North
E: Honky Red, Climb To Safety
[Friends & family of Pace Taylor in attendance; Last 2nd set ‘Heaven’ opener 3/30/95 Orono, Maine]
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