The adage “Never Miss A Sunday Show” proved true for Widespread Panic last night in St. Augustine, Florida. Not only did the band cap a three-night stand at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre with a rare second encore but Panic also dusted off their cover of The Doors’ “Peace Frog”/”Blue Sunday” song suite for the first time in over a decade.
Guitarist John Bell greeted fans with “Happy sunshine, everybody” before the sextet launched into old favorite “Wondering.” Next came the familiar “Goodpeople”/”Dark Bar” pairing after Panic split the songs for the first time earlier this month during a three-night stand in Las Vegas. JB then led the group through “Makes Sense To Me” and a cover of Traffic’s “Dear Mr. Fantasy.”
After teasing “Little Lilly” on Saturday, Panic played a nicely extended version of the song following “Dear Mr. Fantasy” last night. “Little Lilly” bled into the emotion-laden “I’m Not Alone” before the band ended the first set with a 20-minute sequence of “Sundown Betty” and “Chilly Water.”
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Widespread Panic kicked off Sunday’s second set with their seventh-ever cover of The Dillards’ “There Is A Time.” From there “Airplane” took flight for nearly 15 minutes as guitarist Jimmy Herring led the frenetic first portion of the jam and keyboardist JoJo Hermann fronted a Little Feat-esque second jam. Bassist Dave Schools then played the signature run signaling the start of “Tie Your Shoes.” The improv-heavy heavy “Tie Your Shoes” gave way to the beloved “Hatfield” before “Little Kin” led into the aforementioned “Peace Frog”/”Blue Sunday” suite.
Panic debuted “Peace Frog” and “Blue Sunday” from The Doors’ 1970 album Morrison Hotel on Halloween 1998 in New Orleans. The sextet last played the pairing of The Doors covers way back on October 29, 2011 — a span of 473 shows. Last night’s second set came to a close with a seamless run featuring oldies “Greta,” “Blight” and “Tall Boy.” Schools took aim at Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill during “Blight” by stating, “”I’ll be any way I wanna be … maybe even gay. But don’t say that shit … not here.”
The band came back to the stage for a three-song encore consisting of original “Gradle” and covers of Tom Petty’s “You Wreck Me” and the Cream-popularized “I’m So Glad.” However, the show wasn’t over just yet. Widespread Panic returned for “Blue Indian,” marking their first double encore since September 16, 2018 at the same venue as per PanicStream.
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Watch fan-shot video footage featuring last night’s The Doors covers below:
Setlist (via Everyday Companion)
Set One: Wondering, Goodpeople > Dark Bar > Goodpeople, Makes Sense To Me, Dear Mr. Fantasy, Little Lilly > I’m Not Alone, Sundown Betty, Chilly Water
Set Two: There Is A Time, Airplane > Jam > Tie Your Shoes > Hatfield, Little Kin, Peace Frog > Blue Sunday, Greta > Blight > Tall Boy
Encore: Gradle, You Wreck Me, I’m So Glad
Encore2: Blue Indian
[‘Let It Rock’ tease after ‘Airplane’; ‘Get Up Stand Up’ tease after ‘Little Kin’; Last ‘Blue Sunday’ – 10/29/11, 473 shows; Last ‘Peace Frog’ – 10/29/11, 473 shows]
