Widespread Panic Serves Up Several Song Sandwiches On Saturday At Red Rocks [Photos/Video]

The swampy six-piece of blues rock, Widespread Panic, climbed back atop Red Rocks Amphitheatre on Saturday to soar through the second night of the band’s annual Colorado run. Panic built a mind-blowing setlist for the second of three Red Rocks gigs this weekend featuring two Neil Young covers, three song sandwiches rife with monster jams, a slew of improvisational segues, and the return of “Tackle Box Hero” and Jimi Hendrix’s “Little Wing.”

Like the Red Rocks run’s first night, JoJo Hermann’s piano broke the silence as the rhythms of “Greta” transformed the audience of well-behaved Spreadheads into a Lord of the Flies-esque tribe of feral animals. After the howling subsided, Panic strolled into “Walk On” for the first Neil Young cover of the evening. Guitarist Jimmy Herring burned through a solo before passing the baton to JoJo for a sizzling sequence featuring a hearty tease of “Turn On Your Lovelight.”

Another segue led into a classic take on “Wondering” before the band paused to catch its breath for the first time. Bloodkin’s “Can’t Get High” set the stage for John Bell to cook up a scrumptious pot of “Thought Sausage” gumbo (“Come and git it!”).

At the end of the song, Dave Schools’ bass cut out and JoJo stepped in to play his part. After finishing the tune, Schools stepped to the microphone to assure the crowd that all was well and issue some sound advice: “Sorry, I went away for a second, but now I’m back. Don’t be too reliant on technology, folks.”

Schools powered the start-up of “Machine” before taking all the thirsty people in for an extended stay—well past happy hour—with “Barstools and Dreams”. Following a brief pause, Widespread Panic mellowed the pace for a serene “Pickin’ Up the Pieces”, then finished the first frame with a hard-hitting performance of “Imitation Leather Shoes”.

Not wasting time after setbreak, the Panics stepped back onstage and immediately took flight into a head-bobbing “Pigeons”. Pure debauchery ensued. JoJo commandeered the ship from there and set sail into a “Stranger in a Strange Land” sandwich, with Leon Russell tune encapsulating Bob Dylan’s “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” for the 6th time.

Widespread Panic – “Pigeons” [Pro-Shot] – 6/24/23

A second sandwich followed as “Good People” broke down to wander through the back alleys and into the shadows of Hermann’s favorite dive “Dark Bar”. JB worked in his slide guitar as the music rebuilt back into the tail end of “Good People”. Next, for only the third time ever, the band rifled through its fishing gear and cast out lines into “Tackle Box Hero”, which debuted at Panic en la Playa earlier this year.

Widespread Panic – “Dark Bar” > “Good People” > “Dark Bar” [Pro-Shot] – 6/24/23

Widespread Panic – “Tackle Box Hero” [Pro-Shot] – 6/24/23

Maintaining the angler theme, Widespread paid tribute to fallen friend of the band, Thomas “Bear” Guenther, with “Bear’s Gone Fishin’” before beginning the third, final, and largest sandwich of jams of the night. Each of the segues in this segment provided the band with the time and space to improvise, allowing for a melee of expansive riffs and face-melting interplay.

Jimmy Herring’s fingers coerced the birds on his PRS fretboard to spread their wings during the first half of “Surprise Valley” before JB was joined by 10,000 fans to sing “Blue Indian” with immeasurable enthusiasm. The song nearly faded into silence, but Dave Schools had other ideas.

Instead, the band picked up and ran rampant with a “Run Like Hell”-inspired jam that eventually deconstructed into an extended “Drums” section. Sunny Ortiz had the restless audience grooving as his hands moved into a furious blur of percussions before giving Duane Trucks the time and space to beat his kit.

Schools and the rest of the band emerged onstage once again to kick their spurs into the second Neil Young cover of the night, Buffalo Springfield’s “Mr. Soul.” The second half of “Surprise Valley” finally returned to finish this colossal sandwich, completing nearly an hour of uninterrupted music.

Still, the band was not done. Panic tacked on an uproarious “Porch Song” to wrap up the 100-minute (!) second set. Holy macaroni, that was a set for the record books.

Barely allowing the audience to regain their composure, Panic came back swinging with a cover of Jimi Hendrix’s “Little Wing”, which was recently taken off the shelf during April’s Austin run after an 897 show gap. Capping off the night, Widespread Panic kept the vibes immaculate with a euphoric slice of of “Ain’t Life Grand”.

Widespread Panic – “Little Wing” (Jimi Hendrix) [Pro-Shot] – 6/24/23

Widespread Panic – “Ain’t Life Grand” [Pro-Shot] – 6/24/23

After parties laid in wait all around the city of Denver for those with enough gas in the tank to keep going after all the steps and hills climbed. Namely, The Other Brothers were ripped Allman Brother’s Band tunes until nearly dawn at the Knew Conscious, but there were plenty of late-night shenanigans for those skipping church the following morning.

Then again, everybody in attendance knows Sunday Service starts at 6pm at Red Rocks led by Reverend John Bell. Don’t be late. One more night, come n’ git it!

Check out the setlist from Saturday night’s Widespread Panic show at Red Rocks below. Scroll down for a gallery of  photos from the performance via Kit Tincher.

Widespread Panic will wrap up its three-night Red Rocks run with one final blowout on Sunday night. For a complete list of the band’s upcoming tour dates, head here.

Setlist [via PanicStream]: Widespread Panic | Red Rocks Amphitheatre | Morrison, CO | 6/24/23

Set One: Greta > Walk On (Neil Young) > Wondering, Can’t Get High (Bloodkin), Thought Sausage, Machine > Barstools and Dreamers, Pickin’ Up The Pieces, Imitation Leather Shoes (60 mins)

Set Two: Pigeons, Stranger In A Strange Land (Leon Russell) > A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall (Bob Dylan) > Stranger In A Strange Land, Good People > Dark Bar > Good People, Tackle Box Hero, Bear’s Gone Fishin’ > Surprise Valley > Blue Indian > Jam > Drums > Mr. Soul (Neil Young) > Surprise Valley, Porch Song (100 mins)

Encore Little Wing (Jimi Hendrix), Ain’t Life Grand (11 mins)

Notes – Entire show with Edie Jackson on magic hands (ASL)