PlayinDead Blog

The holidays are a time of tradition where we reunite with friends and family and temporarily forget about the hustle and bustle of our Monday-Friday lives. For Atlantans, Widespread Panic is a staple of the holiday season and the primary choice for ringing in the New Year. This tradition was interrupted briefly last year as the band opted to play in Denver for both 12/30 and 12/31, teaming up with the local favorite Yonder Mountain String Band at the Pepsi Center. The Denver shows were a blast but there is something about Atlanta and Widespread Panic that is simply beyond description. Fortunately, 2009 would see the band return to Atlanta and Philips Arena for what my friends call “home cookin’.”

2009 was a huge year for Widespread Panic and was highlighted by a co-headlining fall tour with the Allman Brothers Band. There were numerous collaborations throughout this tour but perhaps the most notable was the “Maggot Brain” > “Time is Free” from Birmingham that featured Widespread along with Col. Bruce Hampton, Derek Trucks and Oteil Burbridge. On a darker note, 2009 would bring the loss of several close friends of the band, including Wayne Sawyer, Denise Jordan, the all-too-young Forrest Vereen, and, just a week or so before New Years, the ever-so-talented Vic Chesnutt. The members of Widespread Panic are no strangers to loss, and despite it all they knew that the show must go on.

This was clearly the band’s demeanor for the performance on the 31st, as the traditional acoustic first set opened with Chesnutt’s “Let’s Get Down to Business.”

Let’s Get Down To Business shall we?
It’s time we stop playing stop playing games,
Let’s Get Down To Business shall we?
Let’s quit with this lame pretense
And tackle this what shackles us all of this pressing business.

For me, those opening lines sum up 2009’s final performance: “Let’s cut through the sadness and the BS and throw down a rocking show.” Though the “rocking” part had not fully commenced, the somewhat somber acoustic first set was not without its notable moments, including classics like “Vacation” and “Holden Oversoul.” Jimmy Herring, despite playing an electric guitar for the acoustic set, was able to emulate the plucky sound of an acoustic with his single coil Stratocaster while still maintaining the style that only he can bring with an electric. The set would close with an upbeat “Porch Song,” which got the crowd on their feet. This served as a warm up for the following two sets.

The energy and anticipation of the night would continue to grow as the second set began with “Little Kin,” a raw, hard-hitting song that brought the electric punch that the crowd had been craving. The band was on point as they entered into “Space Wrangler,” which casts images of cowboys and newborns. Following “Wrangler” came the “Impossible Song,” “Jack” and “Action Man,” where all members made solid contributions. Things slowed down for a bit as the band was joined by the Mega Blasters, a four-man horn section lead by saxophone extraordinaire Randall Bramblett. “Ophelia,” a welcome cover that was originally recorded by the Band, concluded the horn section’s work for the second set and was followed by the bass pounding “Pigeons.” All in all, the second set was solid, but nothing could prepare attendees for what was in store for the third and final set of the night.

About two minutes prior to midnight, bassist Dave Schools takes the stage and begins the ceremonial count down as a slideshow of fan-submitted photos are broadcast over head. “5-4-3-2-1 ….Happy New Year!” as confetti is dispersed over the 21,000 seat arena! Dave is quickly joined by the other members of the band, as well as the Mega Blasters, as the bass line for Michael Jackson’s “Wanna Be Starting Something” comes over the PA. For 10 solid minutes, the first-time-played MJ cover in all its funkified glory was performed for the fun-loving crowd. The group was on fire and they would not be smoldered as they played a New Year’s staple, “Tall Boy.” Out of “Tall Boy” came a mind-melting series of songs: “Arleen” > “Surprise Valley” > “Space Jam” > “Drivin” > “Disco” > “Drivin” > “Rock.” There are no words that can do justice to this series of songs. The band was firing on all cylinders, especially during “Arleen,” which peaked on numerous occasions, no more so than during John Bell’s infamous “Over 16 Under 31″ rap and a bass-heavy “Another One Bites the Dust” tease. Moments of this song even ventured back into the previous-played “Wanna be Startin’ Something” and “Tall Boy.” Everyone in the stadium was shaking their feet and pumping their fists as the group took the show to new heights.

Following the explosive sandwich of songs, a pairing of rare covers caught the crowd by surprise. Stevie Wonder’s “I Wish” continued to bring the funk-inspired theme and then, a nod to the seldom-seen astronomical occurrence of the blue moon, came Van Morrison’s “Moon Dance.” John Bell is a long-time fan of Van Morrison, but this was the first time that “Moon Dance” had been played and it was executed with perfection. To close out the third set were two more power-packed songs, “Bust it Big” and “Chilly Water,” both of which were laced with Herring’s masterful guitar solos. The four-hour-plus performance would come to an end with a three-song encore, the first of which was another first-time-played cover, Patsy Cline’s “Walking After Midnight.” The show concluded with an emotional heart pounding final tribute to Vic Chesnutt – the pairing of “Protein Drink” > “Sewing Machine” was played with as much heart and passion as I have ever seen. It was as though the band wanted Vic to hear them regardless of what astral plane his soul had landed on. It was a fitting tribute to a fallen brother.

This New Year’s Eve, a fun time was had by all in attendance as Widespread Panic ran the gamut from country to funk, rock to jazz, acoustic to electric in an earth shattering four-hour performance that left little to be desired. The moon was blue and the stars aligned as friends and family partied the night away in what will likely prove to be a concert for the ages.

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