The moment 2008 became 2009: Widespread Panic wasn’t even on the Pepsi Center stage at the time. But it was still a solid, entertaining show. Photos by Candace Horgan.
Having gone to many a New Year’s concert over the years, I’ve always found them a bit strange. To me, going to a concert is first and foremost about listening to music, hearing something, hopefully magical, created in the moment. While the musicians whose shows I’ve gone to often do meet that standard, even on, or especially at, a New Year’s show, itap a sad fact that the people they are playing for are often so drunk they don’t care about the music, or if they do, can’t really appreciate it except for it being the loud background noise that they dance to.
With playing at the , I broke my moratorium on going to concerts on “amateur night” to ring in 2009 with some old friends and hopefully hear something magical.
Halfway through Panic’s long after midnight second set, I had to wonder what makes a concert special. More often that not, “event” shows have fallen far below the expectations drummed up for them. For a band like Panic, who never plays the same set twice and often, at “special” shows, will throw in old gems or interesting covers, that question is more relevant. Is it the song selection or the quality of the musicianship that makes it rise above the ordinary?
Perhaps, as was the case for most, if not all, of Panic’s New Year’s Eve show at the Pepsi Center, it was a combination of both.
Colorado’s Yonder Mountain String Band again opened the show up, playing an 80-minute opening set to many fans who wandered in during the course of the show. There’s something about listening to Yonder that has to put a smile on your face. Early on, the band found a groove on the pop-tinged “How ‘Bout You?”, which got a lot of radio airplay. Bassist Ben Kaufmann and mandolin player Jeff Austin sang studio-smooth harmonies on the chorus, while Dave Johnston’s banjo provided a twang-y lead after the last chorus.
All four members of Yonder Mountain play leads to great effect, and the contrast between songs keeps it interesting when different players step up. During “Steep Grade, Sharp Curves,” Johnston’s rolling banjo rang clear over Kaufmann’s bouncy bass line while Austin and guitarist Adam Aijala mostly strummed rhythm.
Yonder ended their set with a medley that included their anthem, “If There’s Still Ramblin’ in the Rambler (Let Him Go).” When the band sang the line “Just one more, Jagermeister shot,” a stagehand brought out shots for all four, and they toasted the crowd, since, as Austin said, “We won’t be playing at midnight to do it then.”
This year marks the twentieth anniversary of the release of Widespread Panic’s first album, “Space Wrangler.” As a special celebration, Panic played the album, in track order, as their first set. The set didn’t include any of the tracks from the re-released versions of the album, just the original.
Not many jam bands concentrate on the album as an important part of the music, in contrast to bands like Pink Floyd, who made an art form of the album format. In fact, the Grateful Dead used to hate going into the studio, and would go years without releasing a studio album. “Space Wrangler” stands almost unique in that respect; it is, for Panic, the equivalent of “American Beauty” or “Dark Side of the Moon.” Many of the band’s cherished concert staples are on that disk.
Of course, if you don’t play the songs well, doing an album in concert is a moot point. Panic mixed up the sound on some of the tracks. John Bell switched to acoustic guitar for “Space Wrangler,” “Take Out,” and “Porch Song,” which freed up more space for lead guitarist Jimmy Herring’s fiery leads to shine.
“Driving Song,” which closed the set, also featured the rarely played “Breathing Slow” closing part from the album. Herring dazzled with trippy little fills around David Schools’ bass lines.
Panic wasn’t actually on stage for the countdown to midnight. Someone came out and listed some of the most memorable moments for Panic on their tours this year, then they counted down to from 10. At midnight, large amounts of confetti were shot from guns at either side of the stage, making it look like it was snowing in the Pepsi Center.
Panic started their long second set shortly after midnight with the old standard “Time Goes By.” Bell looked like he didn’t know the words and was reading them off a stand at the side.
Austin and Johnston joined the band for three songs early in the second set, starting with “Ain’t Life Grand.” Herring hung back on his leads a little, allowing Johnston room to work choppy, almost clawhammer, rolls on the banjo, while Austin occasionally stepped up with a solo. The two helped Panic change “Who Do You Belong To?” into something resembling country-funk.
One of the highlights of the second set was a four-song acoustic set. Hearing Herring on acoustic made for a nice contrast with his normal shred-happy leads. On “Vacation,” Bell sang smoothly while Herring played bluesy leads and Domingo ‘Sunny’ Ortiz added great percussion fills.
John ‘JoJo’ Hermann added cool, choppy organ fills on “Weak Brain, Narrow Mind” while Schools’ thunderous bass riffs propelled the rhythm.
The acoustic set ended with another rarely-played song, a gorgeous cover of Neil Young’s “Don’t Be Denied.” Bell’s acoustic playing on the between-chorus guitar chords sounded almost better on the acoustic.
There were some down moments during the second set. The inclusion of “Clinic Cynic” in the acoustic set, while giving drummer Todd Nance a chance to sing, brought the energy way down. On “Papa’s Home,” the band played around with the tempo. The song started loosely, almost like it was a free-form jam, before Bell started singing the words, playing around with the tempo, which kind of threw a wrench into the song, as it sounded like it was starting and stopping.
After ending the set with “Give,” complete with searing leads from Herring, the band came back for a somewhat pedestrian three-song encore, though it was well past two. The instrumental “Disco” had some rollicking keyboard lines from Hermann, and the finale of “Love Tractor” sent the Panic faithful home happy.
Hopefully, Panic will consider coming back to Colorado for New Year’s again, maybe alternating it with their normal New Year’s run in Atlanta.
Candace Horgan is a Denver-based writer and photographer.
