Jan/Feb Issue: Home | Editors | Features | Columns | Photos | Regional | New Groove Road Trip | Tour Journal | Venue | Levels | Ghosts | Homegrown | Inaudible | CDs | Charts

South Regional Report
Edited by Mike Jones - lovetoy2@geocities.com

Editor's note: astute readers may note that the following review, fine though it may be, actually is from a show in the Southeast Region. Frankly, Mike was happy to receive this. But here's where you come in. We need much more help with show reviews and other info from the South region. Please contribute! If you're hyped up on bands and shows in the south let us know- send reviews and info to Mike. What's more, if you're really into it, please email us (jambands@jambands.com) and perhaps you can join Mike as the regional editor. He'd be psyched to have some help, trust us :)

Widespread Panic: Fox Theater, Atlanta, Georgia, December 29, 1998

When it comes to putting on a live concert, nobody does it quite like Widespread Panic. This fact became abundantly clear over the course of a four-night stand at their favorite old haunt: the Fox Theater in Atlanta, Georgia. I was able to make it into town on Tuesday afternoon, just in time to check into my hotel and catch the second show. Given the surprising setlist and inspired performances on the first night of the run, the whole Spreadhead community was already whipped into a frenzy. I arrived in Atlanta with fond memories of the New Year's shows in 1997 and my adrenaline started to rev up a notch as I walked into the lobby of the Days Inn on Peachtree St.

As I checked into my room, a friend walked up and casually mentioned that he had seen Col. Bruce Hampton in the elevator at the Georgia terrace. The Colonel dropped a hint that Derek Trucks was in town and might sit in during the show that night. OK, now I was fired up. The Derek Trucks band was confirmed to play a gig the next night in Greenville, S.C. and then return to Atlanta to play on New Year's Eve with Government Mule, so I figured that any kind of appearance would be a holiday bonus for the citizens of Spreadville. Little did I know what the boys had planned for that evening's festivities.

After a quick European Summer Tour reunion dinner at Bridgetown Grill I made my way over to the Fox about 7:00. As fate would have it, hundreds of Panic fans, including myself, missed part of the opening song, not because they arrived at the show late, but because it took over 45 minutes waiting in line to get through unusually tight security at the door. This problem was remedied on the two remaining nights and quickly forgotten. With all of that said, here's the call, as I saw it, from the left side of the balcony, row D.

Set 1: Makes Sense To Me, Junior>>Watching the Sleeping Man, Nobody's Loss, Holden Oversoul>>jam>>Last Straw>>Disco>>Papa Legba

Set 2: Worry>>Greta>>Pilgrims>>Big Wooly Mammoth, Proving Ground>>Papa's Home>>Drumz*>>Proving Ground, Travelin' Light

Encore: Arlene**>>Heaven
*Yonrico Scott and Eric Sanders on drumz **Scott, Sanders, plus Derek Trucks on guitar and Bill MacKay on keyboard

Missing the first part of any show is always a bummer, but Makes Sense to Me is a familiar song, so I just pretended like that was a warm-up number. By the time they gave Junior Kimbrough his due, the house was grooving in anticipation of the extended jam which frequently follows the blues song. As Jojo Hermann warmed up his Clavichord toward the end of the jam, it became apparent that he had some funky things in mind for this night. The interplay between Jojo and Dave Schools on bass set the table perfectly for the "Sleeping Man" that was to come. The band played a Vic Chestnutt song on each night of the run. Dave has even compared Vic's inspiration to the band with the influence Bob Dylan once had within Grateful Dead sets. It's hard to argue with him for, indeed, we are all "freaks of nature." After ripping away several more bars of funk on the Clav, Jojo eased back and sang a moving and melodic "Nobody's Loss." It had been nearly a year since I'd heard that gem. As anyone who was at the New Year's eve concert the year before can attest, it is definitely one of the prettiest songs that he sings.

After taking a quick second to catch their breath, the boys launched into one of the hottest "Holden Oversouls" of all time. The jams were bouncing off of band members like a hot potato: JB and Mike Houser traded licks, then Todd Nance and "Sunny" Ortiz turned things up a notch in the percussion section. By the time Jojo and Dave kicked in their two cents worth, the jam had layered into a rhythmic and percussive mass that nearly blew the roof off of the building. As the fury of the jam slowly subsided, the boys steered the show into calmer waters and broke out the rare but well appreciated "Last Straw." Just like the "Last Dance" opener the night before, "Last Straw" seemed to represent the beginning of the end for Widespread Panic shows at the Fox Theater. It seems that many people had a truly difficult time finding tickets for any one of the four shows.

It is almost inevitable that New Year's eve of 1999 will find the band at a bigger venue. With that in mind, we had just one more run to exercise our dancing bones at the Fox. Almost on cue, they segued into "Disco" and the whole joint shook themselves down in an ecstatic frenzy. There was barely time to cool one's heels before the band played the Disco jam right into "Papa Legba". JB beckoned the crowd to hop on the horse for a ride with the legendary king of evil mischief. By the time the set had ended, your humble narrator needed a drink of water and hit off of an oxygen tank.

Fans who had been out of the "loop" for a while were in for an additional treat during the New Year's run. The band had recently tried out a new, higher-end PA in New York City and then decided to purchase it. The "V-dox" as it is called, allows the band to produce louder jams without losing clarity through distortion. It was rumored that only 3 or 4 of these systems were in existence in 1998, so the band had to wait to finally get their hands on their own until December. The difference in sound quality, even inside the tiny Fox, was incredible. As the boys came out for the second set, quick, staccato conga beats from Sunny indicated "Worry" was on the way. Another oldie-but-goodie, "Worry" started a 6-song segment that flowed seamlessly with only one brief pause.

Jojo found his way over to the Clav once again, and this time he would take matters into his own hands. Everybody loves "Greta," or so it seems. This one, however, would be one of the most powerful ever performed. The vocal harmony of the chorus sounded so clear and vibrant that I thought I was sitting on my bed at home listening with headphones on. The new PA was simply amazing. The jams at the end of "Greta" had been getting longer, stronger, and more explosive over the course of the past 3 or 4 tours, so it was no surprise when Mike Houser threw his hat into the ring to blow the sound into a new frontier. This may sound a little far-fetched, but find a copy of the show on tape and you'll hear what I'm talking about!

Once the fury of Greta's hurricane subsided, Mike and JB teamed up to produce beautiful instrumental and vocal work on "Pilgrims." That song was voted the #1 fan favorite by readers of the Spreadweb mailing list and the boys have rewarded the fans by playing it with a silky smooth consistency throughout the fall and winter tours. Jojo injected the jam coming out of "Pilgrims" with his own style of funky-blues piano and then unleashed the "Big Wooly Mammoth" into the streets of mid-town Atlanta. It seems like Jojo enjoys playing this one so much because it gives the freaks in the audience a chance to boogie down while he adds to his lighter collection.

The "Proving Ground" that followed once again displayed an awesome range from the PA and started a monster segment that encompassed both the favorite "Papa's Home" and a drums jam with special guests. As it turned out, not only was "papa home," but he had brought some friends with him! Yonrico Scott, the legendary mid-western drummer who now plays with the Derrick Trucks band, teamed up with Eric Sanders of Col. Bruce's Fiji Mariners to bolster the already strong rapport shared by Todd Nance and Sunny Ortiz. The proving-jam closed the long sandwich and they boys finished the set off with "Travelin' Light" the way it is meant to be played: hard and fast.

From my seat in the balcony, I could see a skinny, long-haired shadow lurking from the side of the stage during drums. As the band came back on for the encore, the prophecy was revealed: the special guests from drums were joined by Derek Trucks. For those not familiar, Derek is a 19-year old slide guitar player from Jacksonville, Florida (see my article in December's issue for more info). As the players walked onto the stage Sunny began to clap his hands in a familiar rhythm. Those in my section looked around with giddy anticipation…. "this couldn't be, could it?" All it took was two quick thumps from Todd's bass pedal to confirm, "Yes! It's Arlene!" With no further ado, the ensemble broke into one of Widespread Panic's most beloved songs and never missed a beat. For his part, Derek didn't go out of his way to try and show up the other players. His humble nature belies his talent, so he was content to play a back-up role to Mike Houser throughout the song. As most Panic fans know, the lyrics to "Arlene" change from show to show, but on this night JB incorporated nearly every one to the delight of the crowd. As the song ended, the special guests exited the stage and the band finished the show with everyone's old-school favorite, "Heaven."

Indeed, on that night and throughout the run, the band played all of our favorite songs. It was a party, and everyone was there in exactly the same place and time. Musically, the band gave notice that they will be a force to be reckoned with in 1999. A new studio album is already in the works and plans for another European tour seem likely. From a fan's perspective, New Year's was a chance to see friends old and new. For those who were willing to drive from as far away as California and western Montana, the run was almost like a pilgrimage. I want to extend my personal thanks to everyone I had the chance to see over the holidays. Memories like these really do last forever.