For the third night running, beloved jam band Widespread Panic took over with a great performance in the musical city of Nashville, TN. The band set up shop at the Bridgestone Arena to ring in the New Year, calling on special guests throughout three full sets of music from WSP.
After opening with “Blue Indian” and “Holden Oversoul,” WSP brought out their first guests of the night – the Love Sponge String Quartet. Together they rocked hits like “May Your Glass Be Filled,” “Her Dance Needs No Body,” “Crazy,” and a debut cover of Paul Simon’s “Still Crazy After All These Years” that featured Randall Bramblett on saxophone. WSP closed out their opening string quartet set with “Expiration Day,” getting fans ready for more in store.
They continued with some classic Panic tunes in set two, including “Pigeons”, “Henry Parsons Died” and “Rebirtha,” before calling on the Megablasters to provide some powerful horns to “Sharon”, “Tail Dragger” and “Tall Boy.” They continued the set by bringing out the McCrary Sisters for some backing vocals, closing out the set with “Can’t Get High” and “Ain’t Life Grand” – the latter also featured David Davidson accompanying on the fiddle!
After a little “Disco” to get things going, the third set was filled with special guests and some choice song selections. They played The Beatles’ “With A Little Help From My Friends” for the first time since 12/31/14 (147 shows), with accompaniment from Randall Bramblett, the Megablasters, and the McCrary Sisters. That same group of musicians would remain on stage throughout the set, joining Widespread Panic for takes on “Hope In A Hopeless World,” “Up All Night”, “Moondance” – for the first time since 12/31/09 (473 shows) – and “Bust It Big.” The band then grooved into an experimental “Drums” before emerging with “Chilly Water and an “All Time Low” that featured the McCrary Sisters. The full horn section emerged once more for the set closer, Parliament Funkadelic’s “Red Hot Mama.”
The encore kept up the energy as well, with Widespread Panic returning with McCrary Sisters for a celebratory take on Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth”. They closed out the night with one last bust out from a past New Year’s, playing the Talking Heads’ tune “Burning Down The House” for the first time since 12/31/13. They enlisted the full horn and vocal sections one last time, sending fans off packing with a great finale!
You can listen to the show in full, streaming in the player below courtesy of Chris from Jam Buzz.
Check out the PanicStream setlist below.
Setlist: Widespread Panic | Bridgestone Arena | Nashville, TN | 12/31/16
Set 1: Blue Indian, Holden Oversoul, May Your Glass Be Filled*, Her Dance Needs No Body*, Crazy*, Still Crazy After All These Years*^, Expiration Day* (44 mins)
Set 2: Pigeons, Henry Parsons Died, Rebirtha, Sharon+, Tail Dragger+, Tall Boy+, Can’t Get High#, Ain’t Life Grand%# (57 mins)
Set 3: Disco, A Little Help From My Friends+#^, Hope In A Hopeless World+#^, Up All Night+#^ > Moondance+#^, Bust It Big+#^ > Drums > Chilly Water, All Time Low#, Red Hot Mama+#^ (75 mins)
Encore: For What It’s Worth#, Burning Down The House+#^
Notes:
* w/ Love Sponge String Quartet
^ w/ Randall Bramblett on sax
+ w/ the Megablasters on horns
# w/ the McCrary Sisters on vocals
% w/ David Davidson on fiddle
[JB seated 1st set; House music is that of musicians that have passed this year; ‘Still Crazy After All These Years’ first time played (Paul Simon); ‘Moondance’ LTP 12/31/09 Atlanta (473 shows); ‘A Little Help From My Friends’ LTP 12/31/14 Charlotte (147 shows); ‘Burning Down The House’ LTP 12/31/13 Atlanta (220 shows)]
[Setlist/photo courtesy of PanicStream]