Photo by Stuart Levine

In the summer of 1967, Otis Redding sat on a Sausalito houseboat and wrote “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay”. Nearly 50 years later, those quintessential lyrics sung during Saturday night’s encore: Left my home in Georgia/ Headed for the Frisco Bay hit a chord in the Widespread Panic fans, bringing these performances full circle. Panic converged at the 86 year-old Fox Theater in Oakland, for four long sets, spanning two sold-out nights. And it was about damn time. Their last Bay Area appearance was in 2011, and their loyal fan base was clearly frothing. This visit came smack-dab in the middle of their West Coast leg, of the 2014 spring tour.

Widespread Panic put down a hard-driving, high-energy, feast for the senses. Their unique sound is intense, with its deep, Southern Rock roots that include intricate jams, groovy funk and jazz styling, with some biscuits and gravy blues.

On Saturday night, the J.J. Cale song “Devil in Disguise“ and “Radio Child” were pure bliss, as the twin giant, side-stage Buddha’s looked like they were going to get up and start dancing. The songs “Can’t Get High” and “Picking up the Pieces” showcasing John Bell’s layered, complex voice. It has been called ‘raspy’, but JB’s chops are more soulful. A high-end, sexy, growling white lightning, a voice that can swoon you and harpoon you….and like good Moonshine, should burn all the way down.

Preparing for our Dave Schools base line massage during, “Ribs and Whiskey”, then handed over to Jimmy Herring for our guitar brain-flossing. The “Stop Go” was a performer merry-go-round with Schools’ bass doing some damage, booming the room hard with shock waves. This led to Jojo’s (John Hermann) crisp, yet frothy keys. The percussionists took over with Sunny Ortiz and drummer Todd Nance as they started a “Fire on the Mountain” tease after dropping politely into reggae-land, culminating into a weird, space-like jelly.

Focusing on Schools playing, watching his long, billowing, magnificent hair, I pictured him as a Superhero flying off to save the world from imminent destruction. His jet-propelled liftoff, created solely from the sound waves off his 6 string modulus bass guitar. As if on cue, the stage back drop lit up thousands of pink stars behind him.

The set went into overdrive with the sequence of “Blight,” “Papa’s Home,” “Drums,” “Papa’s Home” “and “Proving Ground”. Panic’s stride shifted from hot to sweltering; there was mayhem in the Fox. The audience had an unrestrained groove going on. The bands musical conversation with the crowd was dialed in and palatable. There were waves of smiling faces. If you survived the hilarious, poster line and came away with one of the only 625 printed…. that was the icing on your Panic cake. Getting access to Chuck Sperry’s intricately textured; red-headed bombshell image was a sporting event in itself.

Right now, Widespread Panic appears to be a raucous, well-oiled machine. Thanks for your Bay Area stop, but please don’t make us wait this long again.