On Friday night, Widespread Panic kicked off their three-night stay at the legendary Fox Theater in Atlanta–nearby from where the boys began their historic careers in Athens, Georgia. The explosive six-piece powerhouse jam band opened with a delightfully slow cover of the Talking Head’s song “Heaven”–perhaps as a tribute to the many musicians lost this year, including the mentor of many Southern rock and roll acts, Colonel Bruce Hampton, who passed away after his 70th birthday celebration on the very same stage. John Bell croons hauntingly and the concluding lyrics foreshadow that “When this party’s over, it will start again, it will not be any different, it will be exactly the same.”

The band continued with the crowd favorite “Climb to Safety” from the Til’ the Medicine Takes album, reminding everyone in the enthusiastic audience that “It’s no fun to die alone!” This heartwarming original was immediately followed by another original, a laid-back and leisurely rendition of “The Take Out” from their album Space Wrangler. A heavy bass thumpin’ “Rock” segued right out of the instrumental jam and provoked the crowd into a frenzy before slowing down the tempo once more for a casually, sentimental cover of “Walkin’ for Your Love.” The sextet followed with another plea for comradery with yet another original “I’m Not Alone” from their self-titled debut album. JoJo Hermann chimed in from his position at the keyboards to sing lead vocals on the rarely played original “Jaded Tourist” with John Bell assisting with backup vocals before delving into a voluminous cut of J.J. Cale’s “Ride Me High” complete with a cryptic introduction–highlighting JoJo’s prodigious keyboard playing–and a ridiculous Jimmy Herring guitar solo. The band then segued directly into the saucy, boot-stompin’ party favorite “Love Tractor” to close the first set after seventy minutes of heated action.

The second set continued the musical debauchery with an outstanding version of the original tune “Holden Oversoul” which was followed by the old blues standard “Good Morning Little Schoolgirl”. Both tunes were last played in Las Vegas, with “Good Morning Little Schoolgirl” being a part of the infamous Ladies’ Night on the eve of Halloween. Another original “Radio Child” came out of the Schoolgirl jam and as always “electrified!” The band didn’t stop for a break before delivering a perfect rendition of another track from their self-titled debut album, the crowd favorite, “Barstools and Dreamers.” A transitional jam emerged, a sonic musical nod to the great Col. Bruce Hampton, which linked “Barstools and Dreamers” with another original tune by the band, the guitar and drum call-and-response styled song, “Impossible.” The herky-jerky rhythm of “Sell, Sell” broke the short silence with John Bell wisely admonishing with the lyrics, “The next one will be the best one of the year!” Another call of brotherhood resounded with the affirmative melody of “Good People” initiated by Jojo’s keys, and followed by John Bell’s raw vocals and Herring’s filthy guitar licks–all united under the all-star rhythm section of Dave Schools, Sunny Ortiz, and Duane Trucks, who recently celebrated his 29th birthday. It’s another one of those tunes where you can physically feel the bond between the audience members (as well as “Climb to Safety” and “I’m Not Alone”), especially when John Bell sings, “We are the good people, the ones they told you about… Here are your waters, so drink, and be whole again.” Most of the band shuffled offstage as the birthday boy, Duane Trucks, and Sonny Ortiz banged away raucously, yet rhythmically on their percussion sets while the rest of the band took a quick breather. When the rest of the band reemerged, Schools’ opening bass riffs coupled with the tinkering of JoJo Hermann’s keys revealed the next tune to honor the late Vic Chestnutt with the eerie cover of “Blight.” Very appropriate to New Year’s Eve, another anthem to heavy drinking, “Blackout Blues” closed the set with JoJo belting out the lead vocals: “I woke up on your bed this morning, you were sleepin’ on the floor. Fallin’ in and out of bars on my own, pick my head up off the ground.” The lyrics seemingly characterize a typical morning on New Year’s Day following a night of heavy drinking and the subsequent blackout, and the rowdy audience responded with appropriate zeal.

After a fleeting respite, the band resumed positions to entrance the waiting crowd with an immaculate performance of the rarely played “Dream Song.” This song, from the album Everyday, has not been played live since September of 2016. Check out a clip of “Dream Song” below, courtesy of The Note Eater:

To finish the night of fervent energy, the band covered Jerry Joseph’s boisterous song “North.” The ensemble maintained a high level of professionalism throughout the entire evening and dug deep to finish the night with the same intensity. To paraphrase Jerry Reed in his theme song to “Smokey and the Bandit” and also to foreshadow what is still yet to come, “The boys are thirsty in Atlanta… And [they’ll] bring it back, no matter what it takes.”

Watch “North” below, courtesy of YouTube user Fred Ramadan.

Check out the full gallery below, courtesy of photographer Carol Spagnuola.

Setlist: Widespread Panic | Fox Theater | Atlanta, GA | 12/29/17

I: Heaven (Talking Heads), Climb To Safety (Jerry Joseph), The Take Out > Rock, Walkin’ (For Your Love), I’m Not Alone, Jaded Tourist, Ride Me High (J.J. Cale) > Love Tractor

II: Holden Oversoul, Good Morning Little School Girl (Sonny Boy Williamson) > Radio Child > Barstools and Dreamers > Col. Bruce Hampton Jam > Impossible, Sell Sell (Alan Price), Goodpeople > Drums > Blight (brute), Blackout Blues

E: Dream Song, North (Jerry Joseph)