After months of anticipation, I had the unique pleasure of seeing Widespread Panic perform at the Auditorium Theater on April 13. Although the hour-long and very cold wait to get into the theater started the night off crudely, the show made up for all that and then some.
Panic played three consecutive shows in Chicago, and I caught the last one on Sunday. Serious Panic fans will tell you that the Sunday shows are the best because of the Southern Christian tradition of going to church on Sunday, as Panic is a Southern rock jam band. Their Sunday performances are like musical sermons; emotional, moving and holy.
Energy was high throughout the Auditorium. The party was everywhere; from the ground floor up to the nosebleeds Panic-lovers were dancing and sipping cocktails or beer. Though smoking was prohibited, a notorious, strong skunky smell was noticeable on every floor. Even the ushers and security guards couldn’t keep smiles off their faces.
My seats were in the nosebleed section, but luckily the Auditorium Theater had a great set up. Even though we were 5 (yes, 5) stories up from the ground floor, we could see very well and the sound was impeccable. In fact, the sound was so good and Panic had their music turned up so loud that my ears were ringing for hours after we left.
The last time I saw Panic was in 2003 at UIC Pavilion, and it was a blast, but this show blew ’03 right out of the water. They started the night off with “From the Cradle,” which is from their 2006 Earth to America album. Next, they made a dramatic shift back to the old-school and jammed “Pleas” from 1993’s Everyday. Halfway through the first set, they played “Free Somehow,” fresh from their new 2008 album.
The lighting technician for Widespread Panic deserves an award. The show featured some of the best lighting I have ever witnessed. During key moments only black lights were on, creating a dim but fascinating vision of dark blue. At times, swirling white triangles shone on the floor in front of the band, or multi-colored cyclonic checkered patterns appeared on the walls of the theater. The band was almost in a constant state of transition between lavender, magenta, teal, canary yellow and devil red, and brilliant combinations of them all.
Toward the end of the first set, Panic laid out a killer cover of “And It Stoned Me” that would have made Van Morrison proud. During the second set they returned to their roots again with “Space Wrangler,” from their 1988 album and “Barstools and Dreamers,” from their 1991 self-titled album. In between these songs, however, Panic pulled a rock star move and wailed out a cover of “New Mother Nature/No Sugar Tonight” that had the whole theater up and moving.
Overall, the show was mesmerizing. Panic had a mini jam-session with every song they played, and each member of the band did several solos before the night was over. John Bell (guitar/vocals) and Jimmy Herring (guitar) showed off serious shredding skills, and John “Jojo” Hermann had the audience in a trace with his funky keyboard grooves. Dave Schools, always mellow and a little off to the side of the stage, tapped his foot and nodded his head while keeping the beat going with his bass. About mid-show, Dominick Ortiz (percussion/vocals) and Todd Nance (drums/vocals) schooled the audience with drum solos, one even without the help of drumsticks.
Visit the band’s website at widespreadpanic.com for more information on the band. They have audio and video downloads of the 4/13 Chicago show and many more, so if this sounds good to you, check out the website!