The red-hot rockers of Widespread Panic, progressed past the halfway point of their six-show residency at Austin, TX’s Moody Theater on Wednesday night. While the previous night had featured a notable “two-for-Tuesday” setlist theme, Wednesday’s Bicycle Day show cruised along in more typical Panic fashion with two sets worth of nefarious jams.
John Bell approached the microphone to humbly give his characteristic humble welcome, “Good Evenin’” while Dave Schools fiddled around idly on his bass guitar and Duane Trucks warmed rup his kit with a few good smacks.
Roaring out the gates, the always-agile Jimmy Herring accelerated into a high-voltage combination of “Junior” and Tom Waits‘ “Goin’ Out West”. JoJo Hermann slyly snuck improvised snippets into the jam from behind his keyboards, a pattern he would continue throughout the evening.
Next, Schools redirected the bass melody into the murky depths of “Bear’s Gone Fishin’”. With twinkling eyes and mischievous smirks, it was easy for fans to wonder if the song was a double-entendre Bike Day nod to the late Owsley “Bear” Stanley.
JB led the band through honest renditions of “I’m Not Alone” and Bloodkin’s “Can’t Get High” before overcoming lonesomeness with an electrifying “Worry”. Jimmy Herring casually carved a path through a few legions of notes during both songs, displaying a technical fury that is both a wonder to behold and impossible to match.
Slowing it down, JoJo’s piano and Sunny Ortiz’s wind chimes set JB’s voice up for a performance of “This Part of Town” that hit with the force of an uppercut. (“Where there is love / there is hope”). After barely a second, Schools charged into Dave Bromberg’s fan-favorite carnival extravaganza, “Sharon” (“the same rowdy crowd that was here last night is back again!”) before punctuating the first frame with an exclamatory “Imitation Leather Shoes”.
After letting the audience bask in the glory of the present moment and prepare for the second half, Widespread Panic came out swinging once more as Vic Chesnutt’s “Let’s Get Down to Business” immediately revived the venue’s energy. Maintaining the evil vibes, the band pulled Motörhead’s “Ace of Spades” out of the deck for only the 7th time ever before JoJo’s organ dragged the audience down into the pits of Hell with metaphysical meat hooks during “You Got Yours”, and even threw in a funky, upbeat tease of Gary Numan‘s “Cars” for kicks.
Widespread Panic – “Let’s Get Down To Business” (Vic Chesnutt) – 4/19/23
Widespread Panic – “Ace of Spades” (Motörhead) – 4/19/23
[Videos: MrTopdogger]
Schools’ bass pulsated from there into a sprawling, sixteen-minute “Second Skin”. These masters of their craft took turns soloing over Schools’ steady rhythm and took a sneaky detour through “Nobody’s Fault But Mine”(in the style and arrangement of Nina Simone’s version) before JoJo’s piano paved the way into “Greta”.
An improvised transition jam gave Jimmy Herring the space and freedom to run unbridled. All the while, JoJo was patiently waiting to let his fingers fly, and he soon eased into the darkness of Robert Johnson’s “Me and the Devil Blues.” This portion of the show was the crème de la crème as JoJo’s scintillating keys, Jimmy’s soaring guitar work, and JB’s growl embraced the rhythm pocket to bring the Delta blues into the 21st century with triumphant gusto.
Winding down the set, Schools navigated into a majestic “Stop Go”. The 17-minute rendition was completed by a Leonard Cohen-inspired “That Don’t Make It Junk” rap from JB, a “Freres Jacques” tease from Jimmy Herring and Schools, and a “Fire on the Mountain” tease from JoJo. After one last transition, Panic galloped to the finish line with a blistering “Action Man”.
Widespread Panic returned not long after for the final songs of the night, but not before JB commended the host city, “Thank you, Austin! This is a nice place to camp out for a week.” Without further ado, the band strolled into “Wondering”, then dropped into a heart-wrenching performance of “Don’t Wanna Lose You”. JB and JoJo shared vocal duties before Jimmy wielded his guitar like a chainsaw, cutting through anything in his way. As a finale to the three-song encore, Panic choose to honor Tom Petty with a closing cut of “You Wreck Me.”
Related: Widespread Panic Photographer Josh Timmermans Plans Gallery Exhibition During Austin Run
After one more night off tonight, Widespread Panic will finish off the Austin residency with two more shows on Friday and Saturday. Considering the white-hot energy of the run’s first four shows, these are becoming can’t-miss events for those who haven’t already extended their trips.
Speaking of which, hope everybody had a safe Bike Day yesterday and a relaxing 420 today. Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em. Until tomorrow.
For a complete list of upcoming Widespread Panic tour dates, head here.
Setlist [via PanicStream]: Widespread Panic | ACL Live at the Moody Theater | Austin, TX | 4/19/23
Set 1 Junior > Goin’ Out West > Bear’s Gone Fishin’ > I’m Not Alone, Can’t Get High, Worry, This Part Of Town, Sharon, Imitation Leather Shoes (66 mins)
Set 2 Let’s Get Down To Business, Ace of Spades, You Got Yours, Second Skin > Greta > Me and the Devil Blues, Stop Go^ > Jam > Action Man (77 mins)
Encore Wondering, Don’t Wanna To Lose You, You Wreck Me (16 mins)
Notes ^ w/ ‘That Don’t Make It Junk’ rap
– ‘Cars’ tease by JoJo during ‘You Got Yours’
– ‘Nobody’s Fault But Mine’ tease by JoJo after ‘Second Skin’
– ‘Frere Jacques’ tease by Jimmy during ‘Stop Go’
– ‘Fire On The Mountain’ tease during ‘Stop Go’
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