On Friday, Widespread Panic kicked off the seven edition of their destination festival Panic En La Playa at the Hard Rock Hotel in Riviera Maya, Mexico. The four-day getaway features the Southern-jam titans performing full shows every night along with appearances from the Playa Allstars, Zambi Allstars and BIG Something and solo sunset shows from David Shaw, Marcus King and Cris Jacobs. Day one got off to a bit of a rocky start as the severe weather forced Panic to cut their Friday night show short midway through their second set.
The sextet got the seventh edition of Panic En La Playa underway a 20-minute seamless run that began with “Protein Drink” then segued into an open-ended “Jam” segment before working their way into “Climb To Safety.” The band then offered up a pair of tracks from 1993’s Everyday with “Henry Parsons Died” and “Better Off.” A cover of Willie Dixon’s “Weak Brain, Narrow Mind” followed. Panic went heavy on jams in the back end of the set with the last forty-plus minutes dedicated to a 20-minute segued filled stretch of “All Time Low” > “Jam” > “Shut Up And Drive” and an 11-minute take on “Cease Fire” standing out as highlights.
John Bell & Co. were firing on all cylinders right out of the gate to begin their second of eight scheduled sets before mother nature intervened. “Airplane” got things going with the Ain’t Life Grand track segueing into a “Take-Off Jam,” which then moved into a jam on Curtis Mayfield’s “Pusherman.” A trio of covers followed before severe weather forced the band to put pull the plug on their night. Bassist Dave Schools stepped up to the mic for a take on NRBQ’s “Help Me Somebody,” with Tom Waits’ “Going Out West” following and Bob Dylan’s “Solid Rock” serving as the final tune of the night.
Panic En La Playa continues today with the following updated music schedule:
4:30-6:00 Ivan Neville (Hacienda Lagoon)
6:00-7:00 Big Something (Heaven Stage; Food will be available)
8:00-12:00 Widespread Panic (Main Stage)
12:30-2:30 Playa Allstars (Heaven Stage)
Listen to the weather-shortened show recorded by Z-Man here, watch fan-shot video and check out the full setlist below:
Setlist (via PanicStream)
Set I: Protein Drink > Jam > Climb To Safety, Henry Parsons Died, Better Off, Weak Brain Narrow Mind, All Time Low > Jam > Shut Up And Drive, Up All Night, Cease Fire > Sewing Machine (83 mins)
Set II: Airplane > Take-Off Jam > Pusherman Jam > Help Me Somebody > Goin’ Out West > Solid Rock ///
