Widespread Panic @ Sam Houston Race Park

The spring concert season is about to come to an end. All of your major summer music festivals are right around the corner. What the summer outdoor concert series also brings is much warmer weather, especially in Houston. With mid-70's temperatures and clear skies, the last days of spring are perfect for outdoor shows. This weekend proved that to be very true when it hosted the one band that should always play outdoors, Widespread Panic.

Check out a full review after the jump

Here at BOT we are no stranger to Widespread Panic. Between Toast, Cereal and I we have collectively seen them close to 50 times. That's right, 50 times. From Texas to Illinois, Colorado to Tennessee, Widespread Panic's live show never seems to get old. If they are playing within a couple hours drive, I will be there. Fortunately, Panic has quite a large following in and around the Houston area which brings them back every spring. We had never been to the venue for a concert, let alone a horse race, which is what the place is really used for. Upon arrival we still had our doubts as all we could see was a massive structure with commercial advertisements all over. We walked through the indoor part of the race track, and out to the grandstand area only to make us more wary as what kind of venue this would be. The whole time Panic's opening songs were ringing in our ears, making us even more intrigued for what we were about to walk up on. As soon as we were past the grandstands, the stage came into view. For a brief moment I was thrown back to Bonnaroo or Wakarusa as the scene immediately reminded me of several music festivals I have been to. The stage was massive, easily bigger than the main stage at Wakarusa. Its main feature was a top-of-the-line sound system that filled the night's air with the Southern-
rock stylings of Widespread Panic. I instantly had a huge smile upon my face which lasted until I made it to bed that night.

The show started off with recent set staple "Solid Rock" off of their 2006 album Earth To America which worked its way into "Better Off" and "It Ain't No Use". These songs immediately showcased Panic's newest member/always-been-a-bad-ass Jimmy Herring's guitar skills. The songs also showed their fans that they were in for quite an event. "I'm Not Alone" provided the perfect opportunity to sway under the stars (oh wait, it was overcast) after working up a sweat during the opening songs. It also proved to be the only stopping point in the set as they kept playing until setbreak. The five song workout to close the first set featured fan favorites "Tickle the Truth", "One Arm Steve", "Slippin' Into Darkness", "Barstools and Dreamers" and set-ender "Worry".

Jimmy Herring

As the festival-feeling was still flying high, the set-break seemed to last for only a brief moment. We made our way into the middle of the crowd to get a nice spot right up front. This proved the place to be as we were surrounded by the true Widespread Panic fans. Panic's set-breaks can be one of the most interesting periods of the whole show. It is a time for like-minded people to share thoughts and memories (among other things...), and also a time for old friends to reunite. I can never go to a Panic show without seeing or running into a familiar face from times past. The familiarity of the band, the fans that surround you, and the overall warmth that encompasses you whenever you are at a Panic show is what keeps people coming back over and over again.

Panic started their second set in a fury playing Ain't Life Grand's "Little Kin" closely followed by "Let It Rock", "B of D" and "Flicker". In the midst of the dance-party that Panic worked up, the crowd proceeded to disperse their beer, water or whatever other liquids they were holding at the time into the air. The beauty of this moment is that instead of the crowd getting angry with each other, they started dancing harder, and smiling wider. With the crowd in a frenzy, Panic launched into a mid-set, monster cover of Traffic's "Low Spark of High Heeled Boys". Being a rather large Traffic fan, I stopped in my tracks on the way to get a beer and decided to film it (The second clip features my beer purchase, trip back into the crowd for the rest of "Low Spark", and a sick percussion solo by Domingo "Sunny" Ortiz. Enjoy!):

After drummer Todd Nance helped Ortiz finish off the "Drums" segment of the show, Widespread Panic closed the second set with "You Should Be Glad", and the highlight of my night, "Makes Sense To Me". As I was standing there, I realized that it really did make sense to me. Not only the music, or that particular moment in time, but everything going on in my musical world today. At that moment, not only did I confirm my passion for Widespread Panic, but also for music in general. I was having the best time of my life, with the band, Cereal, and 1500 or so of my new best friends. I need to be at a festival soon. Very soon.

The encore consisted of Space Wrangler's "Me And The Devil Blues" which featured the gritty, sinister vocals of lead singer and guitarist John Bell, as well as powerful organ solo by John "Jojo" Hermann. To make sure everybody got the beer out of their system for their long drive home, Panic proceeded to make them sweat during the closing song, and always-fun-to-hear-live, "Ain't Life Grand". To answer the question in title: yes. Widespread Panic, partially thanks to you, life is grand.

Eggs' Rating: 9.3/10 yolks, for showing me that, even after seeing them on several occasions, they can still amaze me everytime.

For more pictures from the show go here

Eat Your Damn Breakfast!

-Eggs