Last Friday night saw the return of seminal Southern psychedelic rockers Widespread Panic to Detroit. The Athens, Georgia jam band hit the Fillmore Theatre as part of their 25th Anniversary Tour and left the stage smoldering after two sets of improvisation-fueled numbers and a 3-song scorcher of an encore. The first set was well-played, albeit of a somewhat slower tempo overall than the second set. Opening with Old Neighborhood, front man and rhythm guitarist John Bell’s (or J.B. to Panic fans) raspy southern twang drew the audience in before launching into a cover of Talking Heads’ lesser known number Papa Legba. Throughout the first set was an ebb and flow as lighter and somewhat bouncier numbers like Wondering transitioned into faster, more intense tunes like Send Your Mind where lead guitarist Jimmy Herring (formerly of Aquarium Rescue Unit, the Dead, and Allman Brothers) and his frenetic 32nd notes blazed over Dave Schools’ mind boggling 6-string bass rhythms. The latter part of the set was a bit slower paced with well-played originals including Angels on High, Hope in a Hopeless World, and Cotton Was King. The floor of the Fillmore was fairly tightly packed but attendance was rather scarce in the balcony. However, closing out the set with Papa’s Home had the room rockin like it was sold out and the intensity was plenty enough to carry the audience through the set break. Widespread Panic fans (aka Spreadheads or Spreadnecks by some) tend to be 20 to 40 years old, white, suburban and particularly fond of intoxicating substances, both illegal and otherwise. The haze filling the theater was not from tobacco smoke, but it wasn’t the free-for-all that some associate with their shows and beer and whiskey were freely flowing all night long.
As masterfully played as the first set was, the band seemed to push things into overdrive with the second. Set opener Heroes was well executed and only seemed to hint at things to come as the song transitioned into another Panic favorite Conrad the Caterpillar that truly launched the set. Like several of the band’s other numbers, Conrad features a number of time signature and key changes that keep the uninitiated on their toes, while combining hard rocking rhythms and leads on keys and guitar with slower, spacey moments - like getting punched in the gut and then kissed on the forehead. However, it was after the bridge in Airplane when the spacy, psychedelic elements took the forefront during the transition and opening into Aunt Avis. Following Avis was an electrifying cover of Black Sabbath’s Faeries Wear Boots which had the energy of the Fillmore pumped up like a steroid-fueled major league hitter. Keeping the momentum going Panic followed with their hard-driving favorite Pigeons before taking it down a notch for keyboard player Jojo Herman’s Don’t Wanna Lose You that saw him wailing on the keys to the screams of ‘Go Jojo, Go!’ from up front. Closing out the set was a cover of Jerry Joseph’s Chainsaw City whose opening line, “In the Chainsaw City, read the book of Detroit steel,” fired up the crowd with its syncopated reggae-rhythm underneath Todd Nance’s kit drumming and J.B.’s ever-soulful vocals. After a short break, the band returned for an encore that started with the slower Her Dance Needs No Body before bringing things up to a fevered pitch with a dance-inducing cover of the Grateful Dead’s New Speedway Boogie and closing the night with Panic’s own Make Sense to Me, leaving the crowd energized and stumbling out into the chill of a mid-Autumn night in Detroit. Just around the corner from the theater, the telltale sound of hissing gas and the 20- and 30-something professionals and hippie kids clutching balloons full of laughing gas confirmed that one of the worlds best jam bands had been through the D. Hopefully, the 30th anniversary tour will be even better.
