Widespread Panic Gets Alphabetical With Setlists In Wilmington
The band went from A to Zambi with songs on their setlists over the weekend.
By Andy Kahn Sep 18, 2023 • 9:41 am PDT
Widespread Panic tied their setlists together by spelling out the alphabet over the course of two shows held last Friday and Saturday at Live Oak Bank Pavilion in Wilmington, North Carolina. The band also tacked on an additional message to the end of the setlist on night two.
WSP started the alphabetical setlist shenanigans during the second set on Friday when they opened with “Airplane. The first letter of each song for the rest of the set and encore continued alphabetically as they dialed up “Blight,” BloodKin’s “Can’t Get High,” “Disco,” the first “Entering A Black Hole Backwards” in two years, NRBQ’s “Flat Foot Flewzy,” Tom Waits’ “Goin’ Out West,” “Holden Oversoul,” Dr. John’s “I Walk On Guilded Splinters,” “Jam,” “King Baby” and Neil Young’s “Last Dance.”
The ABCs setlist progressed with the encore pairing of “May Your Glass Be Filled,” and The Guess Who’s “No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature.”
Saturday’s concert began with the first set spanning from the letter “O” via “One Arm Steve” through the letter “W” via “Walkin’ (For Your Love).” Panic filled in the set with “Pigeons,” BloodKin’s “Quarter Tank of Gasoline,” “Rebirtha,” “Space Wrangler,” “Thought Sausage,” “Up All Night” and “Vacation.”
When the second set started, WSP got a little creative with completing the rest of the alphabet, opting for “Saint Ex” in the opener slot. They followed with “You Got Yours” and a “Zambi” version of the Col. Bruce Hampton staple “I’m So Glad.”
The rest of the setlist was made up of “Tackle Box Hero,” Bill Withers’ “Use Me,” “Fishing, “Fishwater,” “Surprise Valley, BloodKin’s “Henry Parsons Died,” “I‘m Not Alone,” and “Tall Boy, as well as the encore of “Blue Carousel,” Tom Petty’s “You Wreck Me” and “End of the Show.”
Taken together, the first letters of the songs of the remaining non-alphabetical portion of Saturday’s second set and encore spelled out “Tuff Shit Bye.”
Saturday’s performance of “Blue Carousel” was the first time Widespread Panic performed the song that according to PanicStream was inspired by and co-written by late guitarist Michael Houser and first performed by the band’s keyboardist JoJo Hermann.
Stream official recordings of Widespread Panic’s alphabet setlist shows via nugs.net:
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