After a month-plus off Widespread Panic returned to the road for their first of a pair of back to back three-night runs. On Friday, the Southern jam titans played a show at The Riverside Theater in Milwaukee that featured a number of rarities and bust outs including their first attempt at “Quarter Tank Of Gasoline” in two-plus years.
Widespread Panic got their night going with “Saint Ex” from their 2010 release Dirty Side Down. Midway through the opening frame, the band dug in on the pairing of “Diner” > “Little Lilly,” with the former stretched out past the 17-minute mark. The instrumental tune “Happy” followed as the Bombs & Butterflies track was delivered for just the fifth time since 2016. A pair of road songs came next with “Driving Song” and “Shut Up And Drive” as “Blackout Blues” brought the opening set to close.
Panic’s second stanza was highlighted by a meaty, segue-filled run that got going with Funkadelic’s “Red Hot Mama.” The Standing on the Verge of Getting It On cut wound its way into J.J. Cale’s “Ride Me High.” The quartet then looked to a pair of tracks from 2015’s Street Dogs with “Cease Fire” and “Jamais Vu.” The latter was dusted off for the first time since New Year’s Eve last year and played for just the second time since 2016. The seamless stretch came to a close with an old-school feel as they returned back to “Driving Song” pairing it with “Breathing Slow,” busting out the tune for the first time in nearly a year.
John Bell & Co. had one more surprise up their sleeve for their two-song encore as they looked to “Quarter Tank of Gasoline” to open things up. The sextet served up just the 19th ever take on the Bloodkin song, which had gone missing since the 2016 installment of Panic En La Playa. Widespread Panic ended the night with “Imitation Leather Shoes.”
Setlist (via PanicStream)
Set I: Saint Ex, Henry Parsons Died, One Arm Steve, Diner > Little Lilly, Happy, Driving Song > Shut Up and Drive > Blackout Blues
Set II: Radio Child, Thought Sausage, Red Hot Mama > Ride Me High > Cease Fire > Jamais Vu > Driving Song > Breathing Slow, Airplane > Ophelia, Chainsaw City, Action Man (91 mins)
Encore: Quarter Tank of Gasoline*, Imitation Leather Shoes
