Peaches En Randalia #41
Recently, I was reading something about Widespread Panic on one of the more notorious, but oh so user-friendly fan boards on the net. A particular comment was passed around that signals that the thread is, indeed, a mock thread. The phrase used is wsp sux? Quaint and occasionally funny based on the threads topic, but it gets a bit old when overused, like anything in the lit-quick world we now inhabit in 2009. I was bothered enough to leap down from my lurkers lair to state that I still find Light Fuse, Get Away to be one of my favorite live albums. Ive always loved how seamless the songs soar from one to the other, never seeming to rest, but applying ample doses of tight but loose jamming. It may not be a perfect album, but its pretty damned close as live releases go. Suddenly, a few other fans jumped on board (literally and figuratively), and stated the same thing. Funny how fact can circumvent smart ass remarks from time to time.
Ahhhbut we digress, as old man Thompson used to say
There are many things to do in the summercamping, swimming, kayaking, sky diving, hiking, base-a-ball-a, play cards, chess, or various board games with the local nerds and/or family of dorks, re-reading one or more of the seven Harry Potter tomes, (kayaking?) seeing Sam Raimi finally return to his tastelessly weird horror film roots with Drag Me to Hell, (sky diving?) star gazing, jet skiing, staring into the abyss while pondering the walls, (jet skiing?) but heading out on the road to see a couple of fine improvisational champs sounds like another smart choice for the late 2009 summer.
In this case, all lines lead to the Allman Brothers Band tour with Widespread Panic. Sure, these bands are a couple of old dawgs, featuring some legendary road warriors, but they also contain a trio of my favorite guitaristsDerek Trucks, Warren Haynes, and Jimmy Herringwho each bring their own sonic signature to the stage.
The joint tour begins in late August for about a week, and then picks back up in the fall, in October, for two weeks, mainly traversing the northeast and southern sections of the States. To put it succinctly, I enjoy Panic because of their rollicking and torn and frayed jams that somehow flow together, along with their warm and veteran interband telepathy, and I enjoy the Allmans because, well, they are an American Classictime-honored, adventurous, and still at the top of their game.
Soas far as summer entertainment, it is both a small sample and an appetizer for the fall. [CAPTAIN OBVIOUS ALERT:] Regardless, these groups also have two of the best front men/leaders in any form of rock groupjamband, improv, Southern groove, Southern swing, Southern fried juke joint jive music, or otherwisein the persons of Gregg Allman and John Bell. One could do worse elsewhere, but why do that if one lives in the scenic and tour-friendly areas for the Allman/Widespread express?
Rock On, Rock Mamas, Papas, Dudes, and Dudettes, and keep the flame burnin