Back for round two, Widespread Panic resumed their New Year’s Eve run at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, GA last night. Whereas the first night offered a rare pairing of Doors covers as an encore, Saturday night offered dirty tributes to Howlin’ Wolf and Tom Waits, a set closing Tom Petty cut, and two more newer originals to be featured on WSP’s forthcoming album.
Panic retook its throne onstage and opted to forego the traditional welcome and instead launched into a quarter-hour “Barstools and Dreamers” opener. The intoxicating journey quenched a spiritual thirst and was supplemented by Duane Trucks’ rolling intro to “Pleas”. This song always hits home, and Jimmy Herring took full advantage of the opportunity to relinquish some of his endless arsenal of energy.
After a short pause, Widespread Panic reached out to “Tickle The Truth” into submission before the jaunty rhythms of Jerry Joseph’s “Time Zones”. Once more, Jimmy Herring blasted off until passing the baton for JoJo Hermann’s piano to take the forefront.
Dave Schools carved a path into an extended “Little Lilly” which reminded everyone listening that “it’s only real if you believe.” Switching gears, the Panics maneuvered into a downright doggone dirty ditty, Howlin’ Wolf’s “Smokestack Lightning”.
John Bell presumably smuggled muddy water from the Mississippi River to fully embody the gravelly style of the renowned Chicago bluesman, but it was JoJo who stole the show with his piano. Jimmy Herring also earned an honorable mention for being always ready to shoot to the moon on a moment’s notice.
Picking up speed with the pedal to the floor, a blazing transition accelerated into an electrifying “Radio Child”. After a quick pause, JoJo’s vocals belted out an emotionally charged “Visiting Day” which stayed slow and steady despite Herring’s attempts to run wild. Finishing out the lengthy first frame, WSP unearthed an unholy fury by donning their newer composition “Halloween Face”, wreaking havoc for the 20th time since its debut at 2021’s NOLAween.
Many questioned what the band did during set break, because when they returned, Jimmy Herring was playing like a man possessed. His level of focus and intensity surpassed the first set as an opening “Holden Oversoul” barged in with the force of a battering ram. Jimmy had his pistols blazing like it was high noon in Tombstone and never once faltered.
When Herring finally reined himself in, Schools, percussionist Sunny Ortiz, and JoJo opened the skies during “Hatfield”. JB entered a shamanistic trance as he improvised a particularly vivid rap:
I remember Hatfield’s mama,
beautiful lady like she glows,
like one of those little Disney characters with the birds flying around her head,
one day we was out in the yard playing,
cops and robbers / cowboys and Indians
… it was hot in the summertime,
in a small town,
the music coming from the house,
mixing with the pot,
feeling a little bit hot,
Hatfield’s mama sitting in a comfy chair,
strumming on a two-string banjo,
she was playing 37 and a half bar blues…
Giving the crowd a chance to cool off, JB swapped out his instrument for an old favorite, his acoustic Gibson Chet Atkins SST. WSP slowly built into the funeral procession of Bloodkin’s “Henry Parsons Died” before combining the next sequence of songs for nearly a full hour of consecutive jams. The second new original “King Baby” crowned its head for the sixth time since its debut at Red Rocks earlier this year.
The following “Bust It Big” constructed a monumental jam around JoJo’s lead vocals before thunderous drums took the forefront throughout the first half of a soaring “Surprise Valley” and into an intense “Drums” duel between Duane Trucks and Sunny Ortiz.
When the other band members slid back onstage, they geared up and embarked on a journey reminiscent of the Manifest Destiny era with an explosive cover of Tom Waits’ “Goin’ Out West”. Herring was in peak form while he conjured complex movements with effortless ease as WSP closed out the second half of “Surprise Valley” and wandered into “Pilgrims”. Capping off the second set, Panic delved into Tom Petty’s catalog to play “Running Down a Dream” for only the seventh time ever. The tune, which the band debuted during 2022’s dreamy Halloween in Savannah, has never closed out a set before last night.
Widespread Panic chose Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train” as the lone encore for the penultimate show of 2023. Fans hoped for more considering the Black Sabbath Halloween earlier this year. Before that, Panic paired a Doors song with a Sabbath song for each stop of their fall tour in 2016, so many wondered if they were going to double down on Sabbath like they did The Doors the night before. However, it wasn’t meant to be, and with three full sets ahead tonight, it’s hard to be disappointed.
Happy New Year’s Eve folks. Let’s ring in this New Year with style, grace, and class. Take care of one another and yourselves. Happiness—like a smile—is contagious. Spread the love, wide. Until tomorrow.
Widespread Panic – “Crazy Train” (Ozzy Osbourne) – 12/30/23
Widespread Panic – Fox Theatre – Atlanta, GA – 12/30/23 – Full Audio
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Setlist: Widespread Panic | Fox Theatre | Atlanta, GA | 12/30/23
Set 1: Barstools and Dreamers > Pleas > Tickle The Truth, Time Zones, Little Lilly > Smokestack Lightning (Howlin’ Wolf) > Radio Child, Visiting Day, Halloween Face
Set 2: Holden Oversoul > Hatfield, Henry Parsons Died (BloodKin), King Baby > Bust It Big > Surprise Valley > Drums > Goin’ Out West (Tom Waits) > Surprise Valley, Pilgrims, Running Down A Dream (Tom Petty)
Encore Crazy Train (Ozzy Osbourne)
The post Widespread Panic Showcases New Material, Rides The “Crazy Train” At Penultimate Show Of 2023 [Photos/Video/Audio] appeared first on L4LM.
