Is there anything we can say about the majesty of Red Rocks Amphitheatre that hasn’t been said already? If there is, perhaps the guys from Widespread Panic might have it in them.
Remember in 2008 when Panic set the record for the most shows, the most consecutive sell-outs, the most tickets sold at Red Rocks Amphitheatre? (The number of consecutive sell-outs: 32!) After taking a summer off to play a couple of late-night sets at the Mile High Music Festival in 2009, Panic is back at Red Rocks this weekend for three more sold-out shows that will help cement its legacy at the legendary venue — and give the band a chance to visit one of its favorite spots in the world.
That said, do they have anything unique to say about the venue, its surreal beauty, its uncanny creation, its allegedly magical properties?
Yes they do.
“When I think of Red Rocks, I think about looking out from my vantage point on the stage and seeing the rocks going up the sides,” said John “Jojo” Hermann, who has played keys and piano for Panic since 1992. “The rocks going up the sides look like giant, great, red sharks that jet up from the stage. That’s the first thing that always strikes me about standing on that stage. The shark on stage left, he’s even got a little eye and a little nose.”
Sharks? We’ve never heard that before. And it makes sense that one of the guys who has spent the most time performing on that stage would have unusual insight on the most famous outdoor amphitheatre in the world. Of course Hermann has heartfelt, if more run-of- the-mill, sentiment regarding the amphitheater, too.
“Our yearly Red Rocks thing is something I look forward to more and more every year, and now I savor it,” Hermann said in advance of his band’s shows there tonight through Sunday. “It’s like, ‘Man, how lucky are we to be able to do this?’ The people of Colorado, the audience, they’re so hyped up. And it makes you feel really good and connected. I can’t imagine our lives without it.”
We find Panic at an interesting crossroads in 2010. Not only did the band release its strongest record of the last dozen years last month with “Dirty Side Down,” but it’s also amid a subtle fight for its public image.
Panic is constantly lumped in with its jam band brethren — and for obvious reasons. Its songs meander while its sounds vary constantly. The band thrives in improvisation, a.k.a. jamming, and it shares many of its fans with Phish, Furthur, String Cheese and other “jam bands.”
And yet the band doesn’t share the affinity for the title.
“I don’t refer to us that way, but it also just depends on the song,” Hermann said. “I look at music as 12 notes, and we use all 12 of them. On some songs, we do jam out a lot. Others we have nice, tight arrangements, and we don’t jam on it. ‘This Cruel Thing,’ for example, you can’t put that song in the same boat as ‘Fishwater’ or anything like that.”
Sure enough, the publicity surrounding “Dirty Side Down” also steers clear of the “jam band” phrase, and when it does go there, it hints that Panic is “more than just a jam band.” But like many bands categorized as such, Panic’s records are one creation, and its live shows are another creation entirely.
At times, “Dirty Side Down” sounds like a down-home, acoustic tribute to the blues- imbued rock that first made acts such as Big Head Todd & the Monsters stars. There are glimpses of psych-rock with an emphasis on melody and John Bell’s wailing melodies. They even cover Vic Chesnutt’s “This Cruel Thing,” a touching, heart-wrenching ballad and a tribute to their fallen friend.
But in listening to the record, you can hear how the band can and will easily transform the songs into new creations on the live stage.
Those rolling, country-inspired riffs in “Visiting Day” could be stretched out into a jam that will keep the crowd moving for at least twice its original running time. At 2:52, “St. Louis” is the record’s shortest song, but the jazzy keys and blanketing guitars are a hint that it’s a song that could easily cross the 10- minute mark in the arena.
And that’s nothing against Panic. In fact, it’s a tradition they’ll own up to.
“The minute we record a song, we tend to leave open the arrangement,” Hermann said. “We might play it exactly like the record once or twice. But we tend to open up the improvisation after that so it doesn’t get old. That’s what the band has been doing since I joined it, which was 18 years ago.”
And that if-it-ain’t-broke style fits Panic just fine.
Ricardo Baca: 303-954-1394 or rbaca@ ; @RVRB on Twitter
