Widespread Panic’s 2024 got cut short with guitarist Jimmy Herring’s cancer diagnosis. Their June Red Rocks run would be their last shows of the year. No Halloween, no New Year’s, no Mexico. Plus twelve announced shows in Asheville, Chicago, Boston and Las Vegas were all cancelled. Spreadheads waited patiently for word of Herring’s health and recovery.
So the announced return of Widespread Panic to the stage in Atlantic City was met with great jubilation across the community. Never has a trip to Atlantic City in the off-est of off seasons seemed like a better idea.
When met with a health scare like Herring and his compatriots in Widespread Panic were, it is always nice to surround yourselves with friends, family and loved ones. And that’s just what the band did. They had friends join on stage. Throughout the weekend longtime producer John Keane and jamband utility man Jason Crosby joined the band, rounding out their already monstrous six-strong sound. And they had old friends join through song. Jerry Joseph’s “Chainsaw City,” Bloodkin’s “End of the Show,” “Degenerate” and “Blight” from the late Vic Chesnutt, and Panic himself, Michael Houser, came shining through to join his old mates in spirit on “The Waker” and elsewhere.
All the while, their “daddy” Col. Bruce Hampton was watching on in portrait form, sitting behind singer and guitarist John Bell. Their loyal fanbase came from near and far to complete the family circle, leading a “Jimmy” chant before the first notes were played, to express their collective appreciation and gratitude. And when Herring muscled out his first real big solo of the night inside “Tallboy,” the crowd let him hear it once more with a huge roar.
The weekend run got started with J.B. strapping on the mandolin to belt out the very appropriate “Ain’t Life Grand,” and it would end three nights later with J.B. again donning the mandolin to close things out with the very appropriate “End of the Show.” What transpired in between was a surprisingly unpredictable tangle of madness the likes of which none can quite deliver like the boys from Athens, Georgia can.
Love was in the air Friday, Valentine’s Day, and the second set took the shape of a classic Panic theme set, with many songs connected to love in some way. “Walkin (For Your Love)”, “Junior,” a double shot of Hot Tuna with “Genesis,” and “Bowlegged Woman,” “Love Tractor” and then the encore “Keep Me In Your Heart for a While” and “Red Hot Mama.” The set was anchored however by massive “Greta” and “Surprise Valley” performances that had the crowd working themselves into a sweaty lather and nodding in satisfied approval; the band is back!
Night two turned away from the love fest with a much darker set that leaned heavily into the blues and also featured a number of their very good newer songs. Jason Crosby more comfortably exerted himself into the material, jawing back and forth and interweaving nimbly with Herring’s rapid fire shredding on a number of occasions. Show highlights include an exploratory “Party at Your Mama’s House,” a very patient and groovy “Ride Me High” with Crosby on keys, a searing extended “Mercy,” and a “Pigeons” that had the joint rocking so hard that the jumbotron camera was shaking wildly.
The dark and bluesy mood carried over into the third and final night of the run punctuated with deep dive into the blues canon with a Howlin’ Wolf two-fer, “Smokestack Lightning” > “Tail Dragger” in the second set, the third such double-shot from one of their heroes, after similar runs of Vic Chesnutt and Hot Tuna covers the previous two shows. Night three highlights included the “Papa’s Home” and “You Got Yours” sandwich, a beautiful “Pickin’ Up the Pieces” featuring Crosby’s fiddle work, a “King Baby” that descended into a free-form improvisational session and a “Four Cornered Room” that went deep.
Sunday night the crowd spilled out into the Hard Rock Casino, all smiles, knowing this was just the End of the Show, and not the end of the band, who have multiple multi-night runs on the books. Over the three nights the band proved to be as vital and fresh as ever. Ain’t life grand?
Photo credit: Pat Rogers
Setlists:
Friday, February 14
Set I: Ain’t Life Grand, Pleas, Tall Boy, Little by Little, Hatfield, Steven’s Cat, Rebirtha, Ribs & Whiskey, Saint Ex
Set II: Walkin’ (For Your Love), Greta, I’m Not Alone, Fishing %, Travelin’ Man %^, The Waker %^, Surprise Valley > Drums > Surprise Valley, Junior, Genesis ^, Bowlegged Woman ^, Love Tractor
E: Keep Me in Your Heart %, Red Hot Mama
^ w/ Jason Crosby, % w/ John Keane
Saturday, February 15
Set I: Holden Oversoul, Bust it Big, Down, Party at Your Mama’s House ^, Stop Breakin’ Down Blues ^, Trashy %, Honky Red, Halloween Face
Set II: Pigeons, Ride Me High ^, Chainsaw City %, Mercy, Big Wooly Mammoth ^, Degenerate %^, Blight, Blue Indian %^, Heroes (David Bowie) %^
E: We Walk Each Other Home, I’m So Glad %^
^ w/ Jason Crosby, % w/ John Keane
Sunday, February 16
Set I: Little Kin, Little Lilly, Wondering, Blue Carousel, Papa’s Home > You Got Yours > Papa’s Home, Pickin’ Up The Pieces ^, All Time Low ^
Set II: Sometimes, King Baby, Smokestack Lightning ^, Tail Dragger ^, Driving Song ^ > The Take Out ^ > Porch Song ^ >Driving Song ^, Blackout Blues ^, Four Cornered Room ^ > Chilly Water ^
E: Dear Prudence ^, End of the Show ^
^ w/ Jason Crosby, % w/ John Keane
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