My Temperature Had Risen Again by Monica Rai monicarai@aol.com

[Note: This month, we have a guest writer with a story about a Widespread Panic Roadtrip. If you are interested in contributing a Roadtrip story, please let me know before you take your trip, to give me time to get you on the schedule. Even if you just have questions about what is involved, feel free to email me at ira@jambands.com. And, I'd love any feedback on this or past Roadtrips! Thanks, Ira]

August 19 & 20

River Run Resort

Keystone, CO

The Hype

Widespread Panic is closing out their summer tour in Keystone, Colorado. Announced as a Widespread Panic and Friends show, the two day event has camping options as well as the River Run condos available for rent. Panic, a band that gained its popularity in the South, is playing more and more west coast dates and opened their summer tour with a 3 night run at Red Rocks, CO.

Friends are announced to be Karl Denson's Tiny Universe and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band (DDBB), both of which are expected to play with Panic. This is Panic's summer tour closer and the first time Karl Denson has ever played with Panic. It is also the first time the DDBB will appear with Panic onstage since their May CD release of Another Joyous Occasion. Panic has been tearing up the summer tour and most Spreadheads will agree that Panic is playing at a level previously unprecedented.

Finally! On our way to Keystone! The workweek had been long and irritating in the .com world of downtown SF so even the slow, somewhat snobbish Frontier lady couldn't dampen our moods, we were going to see PANIC! My boyfriend and I chatted incessantly about the rumors that had been flying about in Panicland. Supposedly the show was to be in a parking lot (???) and the town of Keystone was bracing itself for our arrival. Keystone had never had a concert the size of this one, with over 20,000 tickets sold for this weekend's shows. Would we be harassed by security? Arrests? A (gasp) sober panic show?

We met up with our crew! The largest crew I had ever rolled with (14) assembled at a raging house party in Breckenridge. Engulfed in hugs from my little sister Gita (who hooked me on Panic) and her Emory crew, my grin grew wider with excitement. The beer was flowing 3 kegs deep and preparations for the show were underway. The locals confirmed that Yes there was opposition, Yes it was in a parking lot and Yes the rain in CO the last couple of days made the lot kinda muddy. The weather factor is one I always cringe about, I prefer to see Panic indoors, but after the Red Rocks Rainbow experience, I wasn't too worried. If anything, I was calling a Tall Boy.

Wow! We reach our accommodations, arranged by my sister's boyfriend. The house is gorgeous, set up at around 9100 ft., in an area humbly named Keystone Ranch. Shuttles would take us to and from the show. We got snug in our beds, with dreams of panic danced through our heads.

Just wrapped up our delicious barbecue and are getting ready for the show. I had gone to the Keystone corner store earlier that day and the place was packed! Cars lined the roads and all the good beer was already sold out ;) Keystone seemed very organized though, with huge parking lots out near us and shuttles that took everyone to the actual concert. With a setup like this, would there be a "lot scene?"

After being stuffed in an overloaded shuttle for about 10 minutes we got our first glimpse of the village. The village consists of condos and shops in the shape of a U with the curved part backed up against the bottom of the mountain. The concert has been setup in the parking lot so the U opens up to it. The lot is HUGE (if I had to guess, a football field?) and flat and luckily, completely dry. A chain link fence surrounds the parking lot, with the entrance at the back and food and vending booths lining the sides. The stage is phenomenal and high enough that even from the very back you could see the band.

There was no re-entry so the lot scene was basically surrounding the parking lot and in the village. We also got our first glimpse of the camping, which was another roped off section of the parking lot, and it looked quite uncomfortable perhaps the only badly planned thing of the entire event.

We spent the afternoon listening to the opening bands and walking around checking out all the banners. Panic had held a banner contest with the best banner creators winning tickets to every fall tour show. The banners lined the chain link fence and were really creative.

As far as the music, I am not familiar with the song titles for Karl Denson and DDBB but I did recognize most of the songs and the whole lot was dancing. I will note that the sound was not that great, perhaps because we were so close to the stage, and hence it sometimes sounded distorted. However as far back as the bathrooms and the hula hoopers you could hear every note so it was definitely LOUD.

As it got later, the crowd got thicker and excitement was mounting. Our crew had anchored ourselves in the Schoolszone and we were ready to be blown away.

Maggot Brain opener! What a treat, we knew that Panic was in the mood to play. This was my 31^st Panic show and the energy took ME by surprise! The energy doubled with the nasty Chilly>Flat Foot>Chilly. Chilly Water is classic panic and being in the Schoolszone for Flat Foot was a treat to say the least. The Schoolszone is the right side of "the pit" in front of bassist Dave Schools. It is loud, and crowded and you will definitely be dancing the entire time! When Schools belted out "Singing Flewzy woozy boogie on a Saturday night!" the crowd erupted. The bombs being dropped are still echoing in my chest.

Houser sang next with This Part of Town with large cheers following the line "I've been up and I've been down, But I've never been to this part of town." And then Panic hit Holden Oversoul. I love this song, especially Mikey's solo and spilled my beer hurrying back to the Schoolszone. Action Man, one of Panic's new songs, was played next followed by One Arm Steve and then Love Tractor. Love Tractor, my token song (I have a "My other car is a Love Tractor" license plate), was sick and the set closer. Again we were treated to atom bombs from Schools' bass and just like that Set I was over.

The set break seemed long (when does it not?) and we were amped for the band to come back on. They opened with a Surprise Valley, which was quite appropriate considering our surroundings, and hence was quite expected. No love lost for it though, JB sounded beautiful.."Kiss the mountain air we breathe, Goodbye, it's time to fly!" and from that point on the band took off again!

The eerie intro notes to Hatfield triggered the crowd cheering again. JB rapped in the middle of Hatfield but I wouldn't dare quote him without hearing tapes first. Wondering came up next and although usually not a favorite of the crew, everyone was boogying for this one! It is probably one of the better ones I have heard and the line "I've been working, beneath the gray skies" made me grin ear to ear, as I am spending my first summer in San Francisco.

A slow Porch was next, then Pilgrims. I have to say that Panic has this song dialed. Every note is perfect and JB croons the lyrics beautifully. Greta took us into drums and our crew became antsy. We were already at drums and still no appearance of the horns. And just like that the band was back, with the horns! The DDBB joined panic on stage for the last 3 songs on the set. Superstition, Red Hot Mama and Fishwater left the crowd yelling for more.

I glanced around at the crew and smiles greeted me, as well as all the predictions for encore. We were expected something BIG. The band came back out and JB had his acoustic and they played Old Joe, which is a lullaby type song that JB unveiled at an acoustic show he held for his goddaughter's charity. The crowd was soothed, the bows were taken, and the show was over.

The crew started to take down and then all of a sudden Burnin' down the House was blasting out of the PA. The crowd was up again and dancin' and singing to this new favorite "take down" song. I'm thinking they will bust this out live on Halloween but that is another road trip story. :-)

There are advantages and disadvantages of having such a large crew. The disadvantage is only a few of us had bought tickets to the sold out Karl Denson aftershow party. So we ate almost $200 worth of tickets and went over to the Keystone Lodge for the DDBB aftershow party, which was not sold out. Turned out that after about ½ hour the entire crew needed to go home with the exception of my sister, our boyfriends, and myself. We forked over another $20 each and went downstairs for the live music.

I went to sit down with my sister and some other guys in the shadows of the booths. Turns out the "some other guys" are the DDBB! We shared drinks and concert experiences with them and promised to send them discs of the shows.

We hung out with the keyboardist Terrence the most, who had just joined the band 2 months ago. It was so cool to talk to him about his first experience playing with Panic, he was so stoked! We asked him what it felt like playing in front of all those people, yelling and screaming, and he laughed. He said to remember back to after the show, when we were in that hellish crowd pushing to get on the shuttle, and then to take the polar opposite of that and that is how he felt. He said that when he was up there playing he felt like he was on top of the world!

We told the DDBB that they have brought Panic to a new level when they play with them and how the NYE shows rocked! They were so modest and kind and it was a treat to hang out with such great musicians. Every now and then, when the music especially grabbed them, a few would get up from the booth, hop onstage and start jamming with the band playing!

At one point the trombone player came to sit down with us. He is huge! And when I introduced my boyfriend, Barney, he started laughing this deep rumbling laughter "Barney! No shit!" (a lot of people find Barney's name amusing) and stretched out his hand. His hand was the most enormous giant hand I have ever seen! I was staring at it in awe."c'mon, lets dance" Terrence said laughing, and we hit the floor.

After an intense jam with some of the DDBB, the opening band was done and Stanley Jordan came on. Now this guy is amazing! Barney explained to me how he held the guitar up high and played the bass and lead at the same time! It was a treat to see him up close (there were only about 75 people there) and we ordered a couple more drinks.

The crew was slow to rise and quite groggy. Eggs and bacon were thrown on the stove and the setlist was busted out. It was a great show, but still only the FIRST show. Grins started to appear as the coffee kicked in and show preparations were underway. The only damper was the looming clouds creeping over the mountains. Four of the guys went to the show after breakfast to stake out some space. About a ½ hour after they left it began to POUR and then it began to HAIL. The hats, gloves and ponchos emerged out of the backpacks and the remainder of the crew caught the shuttle amidst a downpour.

By the time we got to the village, the rain had settled to a drizzle and finally ceased as we finally got through the gates. The sun came out and all of a sudden it was blistering hot. However, that didn't change the fact that the entire parking lot was a sloshy mud pit. We found the boys and they had indeed secured us a fantastic spot in between Houser and JB, about 20 feet in front of the soundboard. All the backpacks were put in plastic bags we snagged off a groundskeeper, and piled up in the middle. The DDBB and Karl Denson once again got the crowd moving and we were ready for Panic!

In the moments before Panic comes on Gilligan's Island blasts through the PA. People stop what they are doing, look around in confusion, and then one section starts to sing along. All of a sudden, almost 10,000 people are singing Gilligan's Island! Gilligan's ends and the band emerges, and the energy I thought as phenomenal last night seemed like whimpers tonight. The crowd was going NUTS!

Panic opens up with Let's Get Down to Business and that's exactly what they did. Imitation, another new song followed and it was rockin! Then it was Houser's turn again with the Waker, a tribute to his son. An unusual Rock followed, into Pigeons (not as good as the Red Rocks Pigeons) and then into Casa! YES! I had heard so much about this new song but had yet to hear it. It is a JB tune and in Spanish and wow was it funky. A Bear's Gone Fishin', followed by a Blue Indian brought us to the set closer, Tall Boy and we stomped in the mud until the band left the stage.

In your face Thought Sausage to open the second set followed by an Ain't Life Grand. I swear our crew was radiating happiness. From where we were sitting we could see the entire band onstage. The back of the stage was a see through screen and the mountains, clouds and sky shined right through. I had heard that the sunsets under the continental divide are epic and the rumor was true. A stunning sunset shined through that screen for what seemed hours! It was a phenomenal moment in the midst of a perfect weekend.

Henry Parsons jolted me out of my reverie and I was dancing with the rest of the crowd. The band was all smiles and Schools was bouncing around stage. Parsons is over and I turn and look at Sammy, he was grinning ear to ear "My first West Virginia!" he yelled. Laughing I turned around and enjoyed the ditty as I watched the members onstage.

It seemed like they had something up their sleeve, the DDBB was out, what could it be? Oh wait what song is this? Who is that singing? Nance? OH DEAR, SONNY IS SINGING!!!! I turn to Stiritz, pumping his arm for the title, what is it? What IS IT? "Sheik" he yells, "Not since 1996!" Wow, so this was the gem that we were getting right on. The song rocked with Sonny's mile wide grin growing wider with every verse.

The crowd was pumped and the warm familiar horns of Christmas Katie came in. It was a beautiful Katie and went straight into a rockin' Arleen (still with horns.) You just can't complain when you get an Arleen, it is just great Panic. Drums was next intermixed with jams with Eric Bolivar (Karl Denson's Tiny Universe) on percussion, Schools on bass, Stanley Jordan on guitar, and Terrence Higgins (DDBB) on drums/percussion. GO TERRENCE! It was cool to see him enjoying his second Panic show. Panic came back with a growling Low Rider, a Climb to Safety and ended it with a Space Wrangler.

The crowds deafening cheers brought the band back onstage all smiles. Oh, wait, and Karl Denson AND Stanley Jordan! Yeah! And they busted into Pickin' Up the Pieces. Pieces was perfect for the gorgeous flute solo that Denson provided and we were satisfied. I had never heard a flute with Panic. The band left the stage and we thanked them with cheers.

And all of a sudden they are back! This time Denson has his sax and they go into the evil Traffic song Low Spark of High Heeled Boys. Low Spark is absolutely eerie and one of my favorite covers and this one did not disappoint. Denson leaves the stage and Panic reminds us that it is the end of the show and the end of the tour with All Time Low.

Almost in tears that the show is over, the lights come on and the crew starts to take down. This time the PA starts with an oh so familiar tune, Louis Armstrong's What a Wonderful World, conjuring up memories of how we started this year with Panic. One last group hug and now the show really was over.

As I sit here in my cube, writing my story to the sound of fluorescent lights buzzing, I am smiling. Mere days ago I embarked on an epic summer roadtrip. I saw my favorite band, with my favorite people and danced until my legs hurt. At lunch I am going to go deposit the paycheck that will finance Halloween mail order. Ain't Life Grand?