Widespread Panic and Umphrey’s McGee are no strangers, having shared the stage many times before, and last night the two jam entities converged on the Tuscaloosa Amphitheatre in Tuscaloosa, AL for a doubleheader of epic proportions. While the two bands have collaborated in shows past, the musicians kept to their own groups last night, instead focusing on putting together the best shows possible for fans in attendance.
Umphrey’s opened their show with 2014 album title track “Similar Skin,” before segueing into “Wappy Sprayberry” and newer song “Speak Up.” The rest of the set would be framed by “Puppet String,” as the band started the song before careening into “Glory.” The medley continued as UM pulled out more classics from their catalog, ultimately treating fans to a cover of David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance” before closing out the set with the end of “Puppet String.”
Widespread Panic followed with a two-set rocker that started with “Let’s Get Down To Business,” keeping their streak of no repeat songs alive. “Travelin’ Light,” however, broke that streak at 121 songs, letting fans enjoy the show instead of worry about statistics. The band kept it tight throughout the performance, bringing out a number of classics like “Little Kin,” “Henry Parsons Died” and more in set one. They closed the set with The Guess Who’s “No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature.”
The show continued with “Papa Legba” opening up set two, before the band veered into a fun “Happy” > “Greta” > “Solid Rock” medley. It was “Surprise Valley” that became the jam vehicle of the second set, as the lengthy version featured a full “Drums” breakdown jam. The set would eventually close with “Porch Song.”
After the two song encore of “End of the Show” and “Blackout Blues,” fans certainly enjoyed the music, but were likely puzzled at the lack of collaboration between the two bands. The groups have played together many times in the past. We’ll just have to see if they share the stage tonight, when both bands head to Alpharetta, GA for another back-to-back run at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park.
Check out both setlists below, courtesy of both bands’ Twitter accounts.
Setlist: Umphrey’s McGee at Tuscaloosa Amphitheatre, Tuscaloosa, AL – 9/15/16
One Set: Similar Skin > Wappy Sprayberry > Speak Up, Puppet String > Glory, Educated Guess, Women, Wine & Song > Bad Friday, Let’s Dance > Puppet String
Setlist: Widespread Panic at Tuscaloosa Amphitheatre, Tuscaloosa, AL – 9/15/16
Set 1: Let’s Get Down To Business, Travelin’ Light, Little Kin, Henry Parsons Died, Sleeping Man, Up All Night, Cease Fire > Jamais Vu, No Sugar Tonight / New Mother Nature
Set 2: Papa Legba, Happy > Greta > Solid Rock, Tall Boy > Surprise Valley > Drums > Surprise Valley > Me and the Devil Blues, Holden Oversoul, Porch Song
Encore: End of the Show, Blackout Blues