Panic at the Wiltern

Last night I was front row at Widespread Panic at the Wiltern in LA. I was standing basically right in front of Schools, at times I was between JB and Schools. The show was amazing, the band sounds really tight and smooth. John Keane has been playing this whole tour with the band, leading me to wonder what is happening. Are they replacing George? (I hope not). I can't say that Keane really added or detracted from the show. The only noticeable difference is that JoJo seemed to be missing except for the Bust it Big, which they didn't even go into the Rosemary's baby rap at the end. George also was quite silent during the whole show. He sang one verse of one song, I think it was Fixing to Die. George did have great moments on the guitar, but nothing like he's done in the past. It could have been I didn't notice it as much because I was too enthralled with School's new dance moves he was showing off, but normally I think George makes himself known. JB and Keane kept facing off leaving George all by himself. George was sporting a new short haircut. So here's the set list:

Set 1:
Can't Get High
Walk On
Pickin up the Pieces
This part of Town
Knocking Round the Zoo
Pigeons
Better Off
Timezones
Bust it Big

JB closes the set with "We'll talk later"

Set 2:
Solid Rock
Tortured Artist
Space Wrangler
Walkin
Heaven
Imitation Leather Shoes > a big jam
Drums (with george for the first bit)
Fixin to Die
Ribs and Whiskey
Mr. Soul

Encore:
From the Cradle
Fishwater (with Taylor Hicks on harmonica)

The last Better off was in 2001 so it was exciting to get to see it. I have to admit, on paper the first set doesn't look as hot as it actually was. Can't get High, Picking up the Pieces, and this part of Town all in the first 4 songs isn't the opening combo I would ever ask for, but it was actually really nice and fun. It seems that they eased into the whole show which is preferable to slowing it down at the end.

The entire second set was awesome, except for the Tortured Artist, which actually turned out nice because I was able to make a run for the bathroom while there was no line. I'm glad we got a Heaven and Imitation rather than a City of Dreams. I can only imagine what's going to go down the next two nights but I know Tahoe and Berkeley are going to be amazing.

Now, can I mention Taylor Hicks??? Apparently he is from Georgia so maybe he knew Panic already. He definitely was rocking out and looked like he had a great time. When they put an extra mic on stage, I was wondering who could be coming out, there were rumors Jerry Joseph was in town, but then I saw a head full of salt and pepper and immediately knew it was the American Idol guy, of course, because we were in LA. I think it was a perfect and strange guest appearance. The best part was that he totally proved himself capable of being up there with them. He never sang, which was good because there is no way I would want to hear him over JB, but he killed the harmonica. I almost want to hear more Panic songs with harmonica. Overall, everyone got a big laugh out of him up there, but had to stop laughing and start pumping fists pretty early in the song.

This was my first Panic show basically solo. It was fun, I met some really nice people up in the front, and some total weirdos. One guy threatened to squeeze me out of my spot while his leg was up on the banister doing some kind of stretches. Luckily I squeezed him out and didn't have to be around his spasmadic dancing. Anna, Merrit, Daryl and Rob were there although Daryl and Rob didn't get bracelets for the floor so I really didn't see them. For an LA show, there was no big LA crew or post panic hang, but I did experience wookie ville in the parking lot, finally. And, uh, I could have gone without ever seeing it. I chickened out and didn't bring my camera in, but I will have it in Tahoe and Berkeley. It was a really good show, and I'll leave my final judgements about the new band lineup until after I see a few more shows.

Update: So the new rumor I heard is that George has carpul tunnel and that is why John Keane is playing with them. I hope this is just a rumor and not true. I love George!

Bonnaroo

Sean and I just got back from working and enjoying Bonnaroo. All in all it was an amazing week; we saw great music, made friends and contacts, and avoided most of the wookies. Even though we were working long hours in the beginning and didn't get to see all the music we wanted, the all access passes we had made up for it. We never had to stand in front of a stage or tent trying to hold a spot to see the show. Instead, we worked up until a show started, were given a golf cart to drive up to site, and walked to the side of the stage to watch the acts. We also had access to the artist compound where there was unlimited free beverages, among other things.

The weather was hot and nice. Traditionally it rains at least most of one day of the festival leaving people to trudge through calf-high mud. This year was filled with sunshine; it was so great to get out of SF and take part in what people know as summer. It did manage to rain before the festival was over, but only during part of the second set of the last act on Sunday, Phil Lesh and Friends, during New Speedway Boogie. I watched the song from the guest bleachers with Chris because it's one of my fave dead tunes. Sean decided to run into the artist tent and avoid the rain which was probably the smarter idea considering we didn't make it back to the hotel room until 8am. I had to stay and watch Joan Osborne finish the song. She was great and the rain actually felt good. After the song I ran into the tent to meet up with Sean, L.A., and the rest of the work crew.

We chilled on a couch, watched the feed on a big tv, listened to the set through speakers hung throughout, and made the most of our last hour of free bar service.

Here's the rest of Phil's show as far as we remember:

Set 1 : Uncle John's Band, Cumberland Blues, Big River, Scarlet Begonias, Fire on the Mountain, All along the Watchtower, I know you Rider

Set 2: Shakedown Street, New Speedway Boogie, the other one, Gimme Shelter, Not Fade Away, Till the Midnight Hour, Franklin's Tower

Encore: Liver Rap, Band Intros, Box of Rain



We didn't expect that we would want to stay for the whole show, but it was actually good. Every song was a hit and with Joan Osborne singing, the vocals are terrific. Phil started out singing lead the first few songs just to remind everyone why we wanted Joan up there. John Scofield and Larry Campbell are excellent musicians that only added to the whole show. Phil ended up being way better than expected whereas another show on the main stage, Radiohead, though really good and interesting, failed to blow my mind. It goes to show that one's enjoyment of a show so depends on their expectations.

Radiohead was a good show, they just failed to prove to me why so many people love them. Their lighting was impressive and theatrical and they sounded good. Many of the songs proved they could rock and impress, however Tom York's whining style of singing just doesn't captivate me and his crazy spasmadic "dancing" kinda freaks me out; I feel uncomfortable for him. I really liked all their sampling and the show as a whole, I just don't know how ready I am to pay to see them.

The other band Sean especially wanted to check out live was My Morning Jacket. It was a late night show Friday night from around 12 to 4 and was definetly one of the highlights of the whole festival. Friday night was really the first time any of us got to go see music becuase we had been working 18 hour days off site in an airconditioned conference room of the Holiday Inn. We missed the beginning of the show because we checked out Lyrics Born who was awesome. His rhymes are so melodic and the hooks totally stick to the sides of your mind. His band was great and included Kat on keys. We remembered her from a Crown City Rockers show at the Independent a few weeks previous and love her presence as well as her playing.

After his set, we headed over to one of the other tents to check out My Morning Jacket. We were just blown away. It was a big show among the industry poeple and there was a really big crowd behind the stage. We found it difficult to get a spot to watch but we spent a few songs on the sidestage area and then kicked it in the back area where we could talk to people and still hear the songs. it was a striking image onstage. All the guitars and all the reverb; the lights and the guy onstage with the huge hair and crazy voice. It was sick. The swelling sounds and textures were full and powerful but not washed out and droning like their first album. Their songwriting is so strong. We stayed for about an hour and tried to leave during the encore. As soon as we walked out of the tent, Sean and I had to turn back around as we heard the beginning licks to "Loving Cup". So we staayed for a few more tunes after that as well but I heard we missed them do a band song. Because Friday was our first night of freedom, we wanted to run around and check everything out. I do wish we had seen more of MMJ's set, but we were having fun.

Saturday we got off work early and headed up to site while it was still light. We cruised the campground and shakedowen before heading to see Gomez. It was fun to see them up close and finally know a lot of their songs. Two days earlier Ian had come in to artist check-in and I talked to him for a quick second before he headed up to see some music. We watched most of the show from the side stage, but because it was so nice out and Sean wanted to meet up with Tyler, we headed out into the crowd and the sun to watch the rest of their set. I think I realized then the benefits to wtaching the show from the front. The sound is way better and we still were close enough to see the band really well. After Gomez we cruised around Centeroo a bit and heard Beck going off on the main stage.

We wanted to see Jason before he took off so we ended up back in the same tent as Gomez to catch some of Les Claypool. Sean and I have both seen Les before with his different bands, and keeping in mind I never saw Primus live, I think this was the best show I've seen of his. He and Skerik were facing off

while Gabby Lala and the dude on Vibes kept facing off.

Skerik was actually playing a lot of his sax instead of just holding it and screaming weird sounds into the mic, although there was plenty of that too. The whole band was wearing black shirts that said fancy (because they are, duh). Post Les was dinner and Radiohead with the whole crew, and then Sean and I made the choice to skip Dr. John and head right over to the tent for SuperJam.

The SuperJam was Tre Anastasio, Mike Gordon, and the Benevento-Russo Duo (Marco and Joe). It was good we headed over there early because we got nice spot at the side of the stage. Marco's Leslie was blocking part of our view of Tre and Mike, but by the third song we had moved over to see them. I kinda liked where we were because we had an awesome view of Joe Russo who I've never really watched and he is amazing, making himself known but also keeping everything relatively steady. The show was remanicsent of Phish however there is an entirely different dynamic with these four. Marco was able to keep Tre from taking over but Tre was still able to melt your mind. And it was cool to see Mike playing between both Marco's and Tre's dominance. Everything was new, except for Two Tre songs Mr. Completely and Drfting, and makes me want to hear more.

Sunday we saw part of Moe. and part of Bonnie Rait's set. Bonnie Rait is a classy broad! as well as a great slide guitarist. I had goose bumps during John Prine's "Angel from Montgomery" and of course she threw in "Something to Talk About". Raitt dedicated a song to one of her heroes, Steve Earl, who was playing at the same time across the festival, so Sean and I couldn't check him out, but I hear he is one of guitar's greats.

After that we had dinner and of course saw Phil. Sunday night we took a caravan with all the staff through the camp ground and finally got to relax because there was no more work to be done.

All in all it was a great week full of music and we both learned a lot. We hope to be back next year, but will see some of the same people in a couple weeks at panic shows (I mean you Steve Lopez).