WIDESPREAD PANIC CLOSED OUT SUMMER TOUR WITH A BANG AT
WILTERN THEATER IN LOS ANGELES
For the last 6 years or so, I’ve caught every Widespread Panic show in LA and, Saturday night at the Wiltern Theater may have taken the top spot in all time best LA shows I’ve seen. When you kick off the show with Warren Zevon’s “Lawyers, Guns & Money” and close it out with “Space Wrangler”…well, not much more needs to be said….but I’ll say it anyway.
WSP’s stop at the Wiltern Theater on July 16 came 5 years, almost to the day, from the last time they performed at that place. Over the last few years they set a regular tour stop at the Orpheum Theater in Downtown LA. A very different spot than the Wiltern and, in my opinion, a better place. I can go into the depth of why I like the Orpheum over the Wiltern but that’s not what we are here to talk about. Let’s talk PANIC!
AIN’T LIFE GRAND VIDEO
As previously mentioned, they kicked off with “Lawyers, Guns and Money” just after 8:30pm. It seemed that the parking lot party on the top floor of the parking garage was detaining folks from entering because, when the show began, there seemed to be a thinner herd of fans than at the end of the show. LGM went into John Bell’s early mandolin bust out on Ain’t Life Grand into Radio Child.
I was asked pre-show what I wanted to hear that night. My top picks were, Chilly Water (it had been played recently so there was not a chance), Hatfield (they played it in SD so no shot for LA), Honky Red and Imitation Leather Shoes. Sure enough, not only did my request to the Panic Gods go answered, it came back two-fold in the first set with both Imitation and Honky Red. Certainly highlights for me.
Second set came out strong with Old Neighborhood, Bob Dylan cover “A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall” and Pigeons. A trifecta of tasty goodness. It just kept rockin’ as they delivered a non-stop jam or Rebirtha>Second Skin>Airplane>Drums>Rock. Closing out the set with Space Wrangler.
But that’s not all. They were not about to stop there. Three song encore All Time Low, Tail Dragger, and an End of the Show just made it all worth while.
Have to give some love to the incredible light work by Paul Hoffman. A slightly different light rig than last tour but delivered brilliantly without overdoing it. For those of you who don’t follow tech stuff, Paul teamed up with Candice Brightman to design and run the lights for The Dead’s “Fare Thee Well” shows last Summer.
