Last night I made the trek from Cville to see some old friends in Richmond and catch Widespread Panic at the Landmark Theater. Being the dork that I am, I did a quick calculation of how many Widespread shows I had seen and figured it out that this was my 20th. A milestone show - Wow! (ok, I am only kidding). Twenty shows is not much for the average Spreadhead, but I have seen those twenty shows over a 16 year time span. I bought Space Wrangler in 1989 and actually like some of the newer tunes (post 2000) more than the older ones now. This has made seeing Widespread Panic just as enjoyable now as it was in the 90s.

Pre-Game
It had been a long time since I went out in the Fan, and Matt and Julia picked a fantastic place for the pre-game meal and drinks - Sticky Rice. Any place that serves sushi, a can of tots (that’s tater-tots), and tall boy PBR’s automatically gets a gold star in my book. We ordered several different types of sushi. I think our crew liked the Goochland and the Crazy Calamari rolls the best. (The Crazy Calamari is a “monster roll with tempura fried calamari, tamago, cilantro, cucumbers, and sriracha rolled in tobiko and panko flakes”. The Goochland is smoked salmon, goat cheese, and scallions.) A round of car bombs (well Graham had a tequila shot and Julia a sake bomber) and we were off to the show.



Set 1
Pilgrims > Ain’t Life Grand, Airplane > Genesis, Ribs And Whiskey > Goodpeople, Chainsaw City, Her Dance Needs No Body > Chilly Water

I was a bit disappointed with the song selection in the first set. I prefer Pilgrims as an encore or late in the first or second set, but regardless, it is a fantastic tune. ALG and Airplane are two songs I can do without; just my personal preference. The highlights for me were the jam out of Goodpeople and Chilly Water. I had not seen the latter live in 13+ years over a course of 15 shows. Genesis was a bust out; first time played in 155 shows (8/2/06).

Our seats were pretty good: 2nd row on Schools side in the grand tier, which is the first balcony. However, the Landmark Theater is one of the worst places to see a show. The only thing it has going for it is the architecture and interior design. I sat on the aisle in the first set and security paid our section a visit at least a half dozen times to tell people in the aisle to move back to their seats. Come on folks - it’s an Widespread Panic show, not the Richmond Symphony. Every time I have seen a show at the Landmark, this happens, regardless of what section I am in.



Setbreak
For the first time in four tries, we found the concession stand with the soda pop. Why was this critical? Well, the Landmark does not sell beer and we needed a mixer. The concession stand with the soda pop was in a separate room where hot dogs and other 7-11 staples were available. Not that I cared. In fact, the dogs smelled pretty good until some chick hurled after eating one at the table next to us and then proceeded to buy another one a few minutes post-puke.

Set 2 & Encore
Disco > Pigeons > Dark Day Program > You Got Yours > Jam > Tall Boy > Time Is Free > Drums > Climb To Safety, Holden Oversoul > Love Tractor

The Take Out > Porch Song > Postcard

Fantastic setlist. Aside from Dark Day Program and You Got Yours, I loved every choice. I will never tire of Disco, and it is one of the best second set openers. Pigeons was solid, but I actually favor the album version more than any live version that I’ve ever heard (yes, strange I know). The Tall Boy into Time Is Free was the highlight of the night. Took me back to the ARU days and it was only the 18th time ever that Widespread had played it. The long bass intro built up the anticipation - would it be a Time is Free Jam or the real deal? We got the real deal and then some. The Butter Room has the video. We’ll post it in a few weeks.

Post drums could have been better, a lot better. Holden Oversoul was short, too short for my liking, but Jimmy Herring did lead a nice and quick transition into Love Tractor to close the set. The Tractor was disappointing too. It just never reached the climax I was hoping for that I’ve experienced at many shows before.

Looking back at the encore, the highlight was The Take Out. Jimmy played it as close to the original version as I have ever heard. Of course, Porch Song was next and while I was hoping for a Lawyers, Guns, and Money closer, we got Postcard, which ain’t half bad either.



Some random thoughts … The sound was LOUD, real loud or I’m just getting old … I’ve seen three shows with Jimmy Herring on lead and none have blown me away. I am not saying (I mean, writing) he should be ousted like George McConnell, but I’ve been amazed by Jimmy as a member of other bands and hope to experience the same as a member of Panic. Last night and the other two Jimmy shows I’ve seen (9/26 and 27/06) were middle of the road shows out of the 20 I’ve seen now, but they don’t come close to my favorite Michael Houser shows and my favorite George McConnell show … JB flubbed some lyrics last night. Time for the teleprompter?

Regardless, this has always been my experience with Widespread Panic. While most jambands that I’ve “followed” seem to decline steadily over the years, Panic always keeps me guessing. I never know when I’ll be floored or left standing for more. Unfortunately, last night was the latter, but I’ll be back for show #21 the next time they come through town without hesitation.

***

Here is video of the opener, Pilgrims, from last night’s show. We’ll have more in Baked Virginia Jams over the coming weeks.

Pilgrims - Widespread Panic from The Butter Room on Vimeo.

Setlist and show stats courtesy of everydaycompanion.com.