After a wild run in Durham, the city bid goodbye to Widespread Panic as well as their bid for the NCAA championship– Duke was beaten just as the band took the stage for the final time. The penitent audience was pre-ordained to return to the D.P.A.C. to confess their sins after one more night of sanctified swamp-gospel.
Holding nothing back, the eclectic band of swamp rockers opened Sunday’s service with the musical version of the holy communion. Sonny Ortiz blazed the way for a growing “Conrad” (the caterpillar) with the jam de-evolving into “Big Wooly Mammoth.” JoJo and Schools led the musical troupe through prehistoric romp around the boneyard with JoJo belting out the improvised lyrics “Sometimes I feel like an evolutionary reject! / Livin’ in a fortnite world.”
Jimmy Herring melted the ice age and brought the audience up to warp speed with sizzlers across “BWM > Up All Night”. John Bell was a walk of shame personified with shameful humility, “I dream of Heaven / but I feel like Hell… (I’ve been out all night.)” After a brief pause, JoJo retook control for an adventure to the antebellum southlands with “Cotton was King” as DPAC began to resemble the “smoking palace” that “welcomed all the full hearted.”
Another rare stop built anticipation before JB embodied the Zambi spirit of Col. Bruce Hampton for an evocative performance of Bukka White’s “Fixin’ to Die.” The song presented a conflict of emotions as the tempo and energy shone, but the Colonel’s legacy weighed heavy as JB admitted, “I don’t mind dying / But I hate to leave my children crying.” The Colonel himself sat in on the tune numerous times throughout the years. “Fixin’ to Die” hasn’t been played by WSP since the first night of Broomfield’s Halloween run in 2016 and this was the first time played since Col. Bruce Hampton ascended after his own 70th birthday celebration at the Fox Theater in Atlanta.
Another heart-wrencher came in the form of Vic Chestnutt’s “Aunt Avis” which desperately begs for strength to continue with the lines, “Help me remember how to be good / How to continue when I feel I really shouldn’t.” For only the 13th time ever, Widespread Panic covered Bob Dylan’s “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” with the slow rolling beat heard for the first time since Mud Island in June of last summer.
Rounding out the first set, Widespread Panic carved out a hard-hitting “Impossible” with Jimmy Herring revealing stacks of aces that he had hidden in the sleeves of his wizard cloak during the 12th century Inquisition. JoJo ended the first set with “Blackout Blues” and its hazy whirlwind misadventure of piano goodness.
Taking a short setbreak, Widespread returned wearing stone faces that showed no indication of the divine righteousness that was about to unfold. Straight to business, the band played two back to back crowd favorites. First up was the long-awaited return of “Bayou Lena”, the band’s interpretation of John Kennedy Toole’s picaresque novel, Confederacy of Dunces. The song hasn’t been played since 2014 Red Rocks.
With back to back bust-outs, the band bombarded the rabble-rousers with Ginger Baker’s “Do What You Like” for the first time since St. Augustine in 2018. Schools stepped to the microphone to take lead on a rare cover of “All Along the Watchtower”, the second Bob Dylan cover of the night. Herring electrified while JoJo’s keys ran sweet rhythms around Duane Trucks’ crashing percussion.
A consecrated segue returned to muddy baptisms in creeks of Georgia with the help of Bloodkin’s “Henry Parson’s Died.” After watching the old man’s house burn down and flinging holy water on the masses, the band began a relay race passing the jam baton back and forth throughout “Second Skin”, co-written by Jerry Joseph. The Panics continued to take turns ripping with a finger-licking good “Ribs & Whiskey.” JoJo rotated the pig on the spit as Dave Schools concocted his own special blend of BBQ sauce and slathered it all over that sizzler with the help of his sous chef Jimmy Herring.
Schools kept the pedal to the floor with a scorchin’ cover of Murray McLaughlin’s “Honky Red.” John Bell’s voice was hard as steel and cut throngs of people to tattered threads with his rustic vocals. A determined “Papa’s Home” fought his way back home before the percussionists found a chiseled a place for themselves on this heavy setlist. Following “Drums”, the Panics returned to tucked the audience into this cozy seat by the fire with the second half of “Papa’s Home”. Sonny Ortiz continued to sacrifice his flesh and blood with his rapturous flurry of blows.
Widespread Panic covered the Rolling Stones’ “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” for the first time since the legendary Ladies’ Night show in Las Vegas. It could have been the band’s way of paying respect to Mick Jagger and his recovering health or as a way of announcing their replacement in Jazz Fest’s Thursday lineup–maybe both. Somewhere embedded in the jam was a little Allman Brothers Band tease with “Blue Sky”. (“Goin’ to Carolina / It won’t be long and I’ll be there”) To put an exclamation mark at the end of the second set, the Widespread boys executed a flawless take on “Ain’t Life Grand” uplifting the devout spirits to the rafters.
Barely giving the audience a chance to catch their breath, Widespread Panic reemerged from the side-stage shadows to take a Sunday drive down Tobacco Road. Without second thought, the boys got in the car and began a back country drive, tail lights disappearing into the darkness. An ecclesiastical “Driving Song” began the hopeful journey, though it didn’t take long to be led astray as Blind Faith’s “Can’t Find My Way Home” emphasized the struggle to find their way back in the dark. The second half of “Driving Song” restored the band’s navigational bearings as the lights from the “Porch Song” guided the weekend’s musical voyage to a glorious end.
“Bayou Lena”
[Video: Natural Music]
“Second Skin”
[Video: Quantum Lift Productions]
Widespread Panic returns to the stage for two festivals in April: the Sweetwater 420 Festival in Atlanta on April 20th & 21st as well as the Trondossa Music & Arts Festival on April 27th & 28th. For all upcoming WSP dates, head to the band’s website. Until then, goodpeople. Don’t be fooled.
Setlist: Widespread Panic | Durham Performing Arts Center | Durham, NC | 3/31/19
I: Conrad > Big Wooly Mammoth > Up All Night, Cotton Was King, Fixin’ To Die, Aunt Avis, A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall, Impossible, Blackout Blues
II: Bayou Lena, Do What You Like, All Along The Watchtower > Henry Parsons Died, Second Skin, Ribs & Whiskey, Honkey Red, Papa’s Home > Drums > Papa’s Home, You Can’t Always Get What You Want, Ain’t Life Grand
E: Driving Song > Can’t Find My Way Home > Driving Song, Porch Song
Notes:
– ‘Fixin’ To Die’ LTP 10/28/16 Broomfield (85 shows) [1st since Col. Bruce passed]
– ‘Bayou Lena’ 6/27/14 Red Rocks (263 shows)
– ‘You Can’t Always Get What You Want’ LTP 10/28/17 Las Vegas aka ‘Ladies Night’ (54 shows) – w/ ‘Blue Sky’ (ABB) jam after
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