Last night Widespread Panic disembarked for Panic en la Playa Doce, the 12th annual edition their destination vacation at the Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya on the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico. Flying, driving, swimming, the fans spilled in from all directions to share frozen cocktails and laughs in a courtyard wilder than their most outlandish dreams—on John Bell‘s 62nd birthday no less!
After WSP’s tour manager Steve Lopez and Cloud 9 Adventures‘ Annabel Lukens welcomed the audience with a toast and blessing to enjoy the moment, Panic appeared in their respective positions. The birthday boy, JB, requested everybody “hunker on in there” before the steady rhythm of rolling drums introduced J.J. Cale’s “Travelin’ Light”. Jimmy Herring waited as long as possible before tearing into his guitar. JoJo Hermann’s organ trailed Jimmy Herring like a hungry coati pursuing the food service cart.
WSP would continue to “move” through the first set, with songs about hitting the road and getting gone. Segueing into the next song with JoJo still in the saddle of his organ, “Action Man” galloped down the home stretch for a photo finish until Dave Schools grabbed ahold of “Stop Go” with a grip like a steel vise.
JoJo and Herring teased the Grateful Dead’s “Fire on the Mountain” before JB added a Leonard Cohen-inspired “That Don’t Make It Junk” rap. The lingering organ swirls were exchanged for a bombardment of percussion and piano notes as WSP accelerated down the empty, desert highway of Tom Waits’ “Goin’ Out West”.
When the fading echoes of JB and Schools’ call and response outro escaped the courtyard, Panic doubled down on a pair of Michael Houser tunes as “Travelin’ Man” cruised into “The Waker”. This pairing has been making its rounds since “The Waker” was un-shelved during the band’s 2018 New Year’s run at the Fox Theater, and last night marked the 9th coupling in the last three years.
With miles of road ahead, WSP switched gears for a serene ride through an unbroken “Driving Song”, complete with a “Breathing Slow” outro. Maintaining theme as well as their speed, “Shut Up and Drive” weaved through the Sunday drivers with practiced coolness until “Rock” closed out the first half. (“Everybody’s moving but me.”)
As WSP re-emerged onstage after set break, the overjoyed audience belted out a raucous rendition of “Happy Birthday” for JB. When he returned to the microphone, he gratefully returned a “Happy Birthday to y’all too,” before launching into “Better Off” to open the second set. Bloodkin’s “Who Do You Belong To?” flowed into “Good People” like a bottomless YETI cup full of refreshing goodness.
JoJo manned the helm for a “Dark Bar” breakdown that described somewhere far from Doce’s omnipresent sunshine until resurfacing at the tail end of “Good People”. The rowdy crowd lent their voices and enthusiasm during “Tortured Artist” to accompany JB during the lyrics, “Happy, happy birthday to you!”
Afterwards, the band stepped aside and the technicians jumped in with the speed and efficiency of a Formula 1 pit crew to fine tune some faulty gear while the audience cheered them on. Testing out the equipment with the musical equivalent of a barrel of dynamite, WSP patched together Vic Chesnutt’s “Protein Drink / Sewing Machine” for a south-of-the-border combo-wombo.
The debauchery continued in the courtyard as WSP dug into Murray McLauchlan’s “Honky Red” and “King Baby” in succession. Last night, “King Baby” was crowned for the ninth time since its debut at Red Rocks Amphitheatre last summer. Still unfinished, JoJo threw down on his clavinet on a set-closing take on Jerry Joseph’s “North”, which provided illustrative lyrics like, “The sun here hurts my eyes / we’re all drowning down here,” and, “Haul you off to Mexico / send you back to school!”
Back for the first night’s encore, JB took the lead for an emotional performance of “Old Joe” (“Hope we live long and lucky”). An instrumental tidal wave, “Disco” crashed over the playa and swept through the courtyard causing everyone to dance swimmingly into Calvin Carter and Bobby Rush’s “Bowlegged Woman”. JB threw in a War-inspired “Four Cornered Room” to blow out the candles of N1. (“Zoom Zoom Zoom!”)
The Playa Allstars hosted the afterparty with a scorching set that went to the wee hours of the morn, and when the late-night crowd moseyed out of bed today, Kitchen Dwellers were already gearing up for a bluegrass set in the lagoon.
Plenty of pina coladas, tacos, cervezas, and tequila to revive any poor soul still hurting from last night. Widespread Panic takes the stage for N2 in only a few hours. Hunker down, buckle up, and good luck.
Widespread Panic – Panic En La Playa Doce – Riviera Maya, Mexico – 4/14/24 [Audio Only]
Setlist: Widespread Panic | Panic En La Playa Doce | Hard Rock Hotel | Riviera Maya, Mexico | 4/14/24
Set 1: Travelin’ Light > Action Man, Stop Go > Goin’ Out West, Travelin’ Man > The Waker, Driving Song > Breathing Slow > Shut Up And Drive > Rock (67 mins)
Set 2: Better Off, Who Do You Belong To?, Good People > Dark Bar > Good People, Tortured Artist, Protein Drink / Sewing Machine, Honky Red, King Baby > North (73 mins)
Encore: Old Joe, Disco, Bowlegged Woman (17 mins)
Notes – ‘That Don’t Make It Junk’ rap during ‘Stop Go’
– LTP ‘Breathing Slow’ 11/02/19 NOLA (135 shows)
– 1st set with a Traveling/Moving theme
– LTP ‘Tortured Artist’ 3/25/22 St Augustine (85 shows)
– brief pause after ‘Tortured Artist’ for crew to fix an equipment issue (fyi: rented gear for PELP)
– ‘Four Cornered Room’ rap during ‘Bowlegged Woman’
The post Widespread Panic Celebrates Frontman John Bell’s Birthday On Opening Night Of Panic En La Playa Doce [Audio] appeared first on L4LM.
