Opening Night | Widespread Panic Summer Tour

Georgia rockers Widespread Panic start their summer tour with a two-night stand at the familiar confines of Red Hat Amphitheatre in Raleigh, NC. Last night’s first of two shows at the venue saw the return of a lost classic rock cover, an extremely rare instance of a song split between two sets, an old school-heavy setlist and a guest spot from an old friend.

Panic kicked off the show (and summer tour) with a set that featured a number of the band’s most-played and beloved early tunes including “Porch Song,” “Space Wrangler,” “Holden Oversoul” and “Pigeons.” They also delivered versions of JJ Cale’s “Travelin’ Light” and Blind Faith’s “Do What You Like.” The latter hadn’t been performed since June 24, 2011 at Red Rocks. One of the more interesting aspects of last night’s tour opener was “Driving Song,” which was split between the two sets. The first segment took place during the first set and segued into “Shut Up & Drive,” while the closing part wasn’t performed until the middle of Set Two.

New Orleans funk act Galactic opened Thursday night’s show and will support Panic at a number of performances this summer, so it wasn’t a huge surprise that drummer Stanton Moore sat in on last night’s “Drumz” segment. Moore first guested with Widespread Panic in 1998 and made over 20 appearances between 1998 and 2008. The second set also featured a cover of Funkadelic’s “Maggot Brain,” the group’s first take on the song in 2014. Speaking of tunes which hadn’t been played in 2014, Widespread Panic’s encore contained two of them -“Contentment Blues” and a cover of James Taylor’s “Knocking ‘Round The Zoo.”

Widespread Panic returns to Red Hat Amphitheatre tonight. A live simulcast can be heard via LiveWidespreadPanic.com.

Set One: Porch Song, Space Wrangler, Holden Oversoul> JAM > Driving Song > Shut Up & Drive > Quarter Tank of Gasoline, You Got Yours > Pigeons > Do What You Like^ > Travelin’ Light (76 mins)

Set Two: Old Neighborhood, One Arm Steve, Give, Christmas Katie > Let It Rock, Surprise Valley > Driving Song > Breathing Slow > Drumz > Surprise Valley > Maggot Brain > Chilly Water (83 mins)

Encore: Contentment Blues, Knocking ‘Round The Zoo (10 mins)

Notes: ^LTP 6.24.11 Red Rocks

[Setlist via PanicStream]