Fall Tour Dates Announced
In an age of broken Rock Charts many people feel that the era of good live Rock n Roll is dead. Those people have obviously not had the chance to catch Widespread Panic live in concert. Powerful lyrical work from John Bell, a dynamic duo of percussion & drums, School’s powerful bass lines, tight keyboard work, and Jimmy’s menacing guitar lines weave together to form an astounding live performance like none other.
Next Thursday the Home Team will embark on their Spring tour with a two night run in at the Red Hat Amphitheater in Raleigh. Just as they begin their tour they show no intentions of slowing the momentum down, this afternoon the group announced an extensive Fall Tour.
The announcement that the Home Team will be performing in Montgomery, AL is very notable. The last time the group performed in Montgomery was on May 1, 2001 at the Garett Coliseum. I grew up hearing the tales of those “good ole’ days” when Panic would come through town. In sharing stories and concert experiences with many friends, there is one story in particular that is very worth sharing. An urban legend of sorts if you will…
Their last show 5/01/01 in Montgomery included a very solid ending to their second set Airplane > Bear’s Gone Fishin’ > Drums > Four Cornered Room >Big Wooly Mammoth > Mr. Soul. We speculate, half in sincerity, half in sarcasm, that the reason they haven’t revisited Montgomery again is because of what happened during the second set. A girl from Montgomery who had seen Panic many times got very excited at the line in Big Wooly Mammoth, “You better wear your coat, Somebody throw me a fire”. As everyone threw their lighters on stage, she quickly realized she did not have a lighter, too ecstatic to not skip a beat & without hesitation, she threw the only thing in her hand, a beer bottle, which hit JB in the face. Not a very cool gesture of course. I’m sure they’ve experienced much worse in their 25 years of touring, but this tale is satirically known as the reason for Panic skipping the capital of Alabama. Which reminds me, does anyone remember that guy who tried to (unsuccessfully) tackle JB Phillips Arena in Atlanta, GA on New Years Eve in 2009 just as the band broke into a killer rendition of Michael Jackson’s “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin” at midnight to ring in the New Year. Stories change over time and are often exaggerated for the sake of story telling, but it’d be great to know the degree of validity to this tale.
On another note, in September Panic will be perform at Interlocken Festival in Arrington, VA for the second year in a row. One of the most talked about sets last year was Widespread Panic’s set at the festival with John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival on guitar. Fogerty sat in for CCR classics such as Born on the Bayou, Bad Moon Rising, Susie Q, Fortunate Son, and several other songs. Following Interlocken, the group is set to perform two nights at Phases of the Moon Festival in Danville, IL. In all, the festival has a very strong line-up including Bob Weir & Ratdog, Gov’t Mule, Railroad Earth, JJ Grey & Mofro, Chris Robinson Brotherhood, Robert Randolph, Galactic, Leftover Salmon, Anders Osborne, Tedeschi Trucks band, Leon Russell, and many more.
After a few weeks off Fall their Tour will begin on Oct. 3rd with a two night run in Charleston. From there they will travel extensively throughout the Southeast.
Today we take it back to where it all begins, the early days with Michael Houser who passed away to pancreatic cancer on August 10, 2002. As Abe Lincoln once said, “In the end, it’s not the years in you life that count. It’s the life in your years.”
This classic nod to Mikey from Halloween 2000 is a must for this weekend. A staple, I’ve watched this countless times, but this classic Wrangler from ACL is just spot on. Nothing out of ordinary, but just really a great listen through and you can tell JB is loving it.
Enjoy your weekend, and turn it up to volume 12. For a list of all Widespread Panic Spring Tour Dates (Click Here).
Posts have been slower than usual this past week, lots of shows in DC this week, so I’ve been a bit behind on some posts. I’ve got several interviews headed your way next week.