The Panic, Up Close And Personal

I’ve seen Widespread Panic around 20 times, so I basically know what to expect when I join legions of other Raleigh ‘Spread Heads to catch WSP at Alltel Pavilion: a long show packed with energy, lengthy jams and solos, and a performance that leaves you exhausted and grinning. Hell, the Panic at the Creek has long sort of signified the start of summer for myself and the friends I go with.

But something I wasn’t expecting happened on Friday, April 25: I found myself in the second row, center … about 20 feet from lead singer and guitarist John Bell.

A friend had scored big-time on four tickets unbelievably close to the stage, and when he invited me along for the show on the day after my birthday, I jumped at the opportunity. I quickly grabbed the new CD, “Free Somehow,” and got pumped up for another outing with Bell, bassist Dave Schools, drummer Todd Nance, percussionist Sunny Ortiz and keyboardist JoJo Hermann. Guitarist (and North Carolina native) Jimmy Herring is the newest member of the band, having joined WSP about a year and a half ago. Widespread has been struggling to replace guitarist and band backbone Michael Houser since 2002, when he passed away from pancreatic cancer. So I was eager to have a front-row (almost) view of Herring to see how he was fitting in.

As usual, I was blown away. WSP opend with the crowd-pleasing “Conrad,” followed by one of my favorites, “Pleas.” Next came “Contentment Blues,” “Cream Puff War,” “Time Zones,” “Trouble” and “A of D.” The Panic brought the first set to a resounding close with “You Should Be Glad” (video below) and a roaring “Papa Legba.”

After a short intermission to let everyone catch their breaths and grab another brew (I couldn’t find any hallucinogenic Reese’s Cups, tho), Widespread opened the second set with “Flicker,” the first and only song they played from the latest album. “Worried” and “Use Me Up” came next, followed by a searing, epic three-song outburst of “Makes No Sense to Me,” “Rebirtha” and “Hatfield.” At one point, one of the jacklegs who was sitting in the front row went running up on stage, quickly jumped off and hid behind a group of folks to avoid getting tossed out. By the time the familiar opening chords of “Hatfield” (one of my top handful of WSP tracks) rung out, the crowd was whipped into a frenzy. “Mr. Soul” was the finale to the second set, and the buzz began to drift through the sweaty, shaking fans: “What would the encore be?”

The answer was the War classic “Slippin Into Darkness,” followed up by “Bowlegged Woman” (“Well, you and me, baby, go hand in hand/Like a bowlegged woman, and a knock-kneed man”). It was a phenomenal show (again), even though I was a day early in catching noted violinist Ann Marie Calhoun handling the intro to “Surprise Valley” at the Creek. Oh well; maybe next year.

I’ll be back … probably not in the second row again, but I’ll always be back for the Panic.