Widespread Panic Welcomes Dirty Dozen Brass Band On This Date In 1999

Exactly 20 years ago, Widespread Panic offered up a stellar concert at Antioch, Tennessee’s First American Music Center. Throughout their Summer Tour 1999, the group was supported by The Dirty Dozen Brass Band. On most of their July tour stops that year, Widespread Panic collaborated with the New Orleans brass band and invited the guest ensemble’s drummer Terence Higgins to sit-in at various points across each performance.

For the July 21, 1999 show, Widespread Panic saved the guest collaborations for the end of the second set. Higgins first joined the band’s percussion duo of Todd Nance and Domingo “Sunny” Ortiz during the drums segment at the end of the second frame. The Louisiana percussionist then stayed on to finish out the set, lending his talents to final takes on “Arleen” and a set-ending cover of The Band’s “Ophelia.” For the encore, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band emerged with Widespread Panic to perform the band’s second-ever rendition of “It’s All Over Now,” Bobby and Shirley Womack’s hit tune that was popularized by The Valentinos and The Rolling Stones.

While the guest sessions fell at the end of the night, Widespread Panic delighted throughout their performance with a high-energy and improvisation-heavy show. The fourth ever “Suprise Valley” opened the first set, following up its debut a few weeks prior. A standalone “Send Your Mind” separated the nine-song frame into two distinct and non-stop halves. In the first half, classics like “Walkin’ (For Your Love)” segued gracefully between newer songs like “Blue Indian,” while old favorite “Proving Ground” was used as a sandwich to house “Dyin’ Man” in the latter portion.

As for the second frame, the band frequently dug deeper into their catalog to provide a hit-list of crowd favorites spanning back years. A take on “Ain’t Life Grand” opened the set, falling ahead of a celebratory rendition of “Chilly Water.” After a detour through another older tune, “Jack,” in “Chilly Water,” the band offered up “All Time Low” before Higgins came out for the guest-heavy show closers.

For this week’s Sunday Cinema, watch a playlist of videos from Widespread Panic’s 1999 show in Antioch, Tennessee below:

Setlist (via Everday Companion)

Set One: Surprise Valley > Blight > Walkin’ (For Your Love) > Blue Indian, Send Your Mind, Proving Ground > Dyin’ Man > Proving Ground > Who Do You Belong To?

Set Two: Ain’t Life Grand, Chilly Water > Jack > Chilly Water > All Time Low > Drums* > Arleen** > Ophelia**

Encore: It’s All Over Now**

• * with Terrence Higgins on percussion
• ** with Dirty Dozen Brass Band
• [‘Thank You Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin’ jam before ‘Jack’; The Dirty Dozen Brass Band opened]