For the third night of the band’s residency at the Moody Theater in Austin, Texas, Widespread Panic doubled down during a decadent “Two for Tuesday” theme. A Panic show on a Tuesday is a rare occurrence since the band ditched its traditional touring schedule in favor of the current format of weekend runs in choice cities around the country. Fittingly, WSP performed two equal-length sets (each 74 minutes) including an uninterrupted second set rife with sprawling segues and jams.
Widespread walked on stage casually as ever with little indication of the tricks concealed up their sleeves and opened with a pair of Talking Heads songs. After paying homage to the voodoo deity “Papa Legba”, the six-piece band ascended into “Heaven”. On the 25th anniversary of the infamous Panic in the Streets release party for WSP’s first live album, Light Fuse, Get Away, Panic opened the first set just as they began Disc Two.
When JoJo Hermann followed up with two consecutive vocal-led tunes, “Dyin’ Man” and “One Arm Steve”, the theme started to appear to the astute. Exchanging vocal duties like a relay team passing a baton, John Bell channeled the power of his backwards cap to charge into “Tickle the Truth” and a salacious “Ribs and Whiskey”.
Dave Schools commandeered the vocal helm as he hammered out the bass melody of “Blight” and “Sleeping Man” before JB retook control to close the first frame with a coupling of Bloodkin tunes as “Trashy” descended into “Henry Parsons Died”. By now, most of the audience were keyed into the revolving pairings from WSP’s influences and friends.
The second set opened with two Michael Houser-penned compositions as a soaring “Airplane” landed smoothly into “Pleas”. Without stopping, WSP flipped through the jukebox and landed on Funkadelic’s instrumental “Maggot Brain”. Jimmy Herring opened his stride to mesmerize the audience in attendance as well as those streaming the show at home.
Completing the coupling, the Panics segued into a smokin’ “Red Hot Mama” before delving into two originals from their last album, 2015’s Street Dogs, as “Jamais Vu” rolled into “Cease Fire”. The two songs appear consecutively on the album, though in the reverse order.
To finish off the second set, Widespread moved into Jerry Joseph’s catalog for an upbeat “Chainsaw City” and segued into a closing “Climb to Safety”. Like train conductors with an insatiable speed habit, the band shoveled coal into the unrelenting engine and maintained a breakneck pace without stopping for 74 minutes straight—coincidentally, both sets were 74 minutes long on a Two for Tuesday-themed show.
As an encore, Widespread Panic returned to the Moody Theater stage with a poignant “When You Coming Home”, played for only the tenth time ever. The tune had been shelved since Nashville’s acoustic Ryman run in 2019 and hadn’t been played non-acoustically since 2011’s fall tour stop in Akron, OH.
To complete the “homecoming” twosome WSP churned out a colossal “Papa’s Home”. Interesting to note, WSP brought the night full circle by opening and closing with “Papa” songs.
Past the point of no return, WSP charges onward into the fourth night of the residency tonight. Be there or be square. Hope you paid Uncle Sam his dues. Happy Bike Day! Until tomorrow, Goodpeople.
Widespread Panic – The Moody Theater – Austin, TX – 4/18/23 [Full Audio]
Widespread Panic – “Papa Legba” (Talking Heads) – 4/18/23
[Video: whereshaynes]
Setlist (via PanicStream): Widespread Panic | The Moody Theater | Austin, TX | 4/18/23
Two for Tuesday
8:19 CT
Set 1 Papa Legba (Talking Heads), Heaven (Talking Heads), Dyin’ Man, One Arm Steve, Tickle The Truth, Ribs and Whiskey, Blight (brute.) > Sleeping Man (Vic Chesnutt), Trashy (Bloodkin) > Henry Parsons Died (Bloodkin) (74 mins)
Set 2 Airplane > Pleas > Maggot Brain (Funkadelic) > Red Hot Mama (Funkadelic) > Jamais Vu > Cease Fire > Chainsaw City (Little Women) > Climb To Safety (Jerry Joseph) (74 mins)
Encore When You Coming Home, Papa’s Home (16 mins)
Notes:
– Show with a ‘Two for Tuesday’ theme of paired songs
– ‘When You Coming Home’ LTP 08/24/19 Ryman (109 shows) – LTP Not Acoustic 10/15/11 Akron
– Entire show with Edie Jackson (ASL interpreter)
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