Watch Widespread Panic Break On Through Rare Doors Covers In Atlanta

Widespread Panic returned to the familiar confines of the Fox Theatre in Atlanta on Friday to kick off a three-night New Year’s Eve run. For last night’s encore at the home-state venue, the veteran jam act dusted off a pair of The Doors covers.

The Fox has hosted more Panic end-of-year celebrations than any other venue besides the State Farm Arena, which was known as the Philips Arena during the sextet’s 10 New Year’s Eve concerts at the home of the Atlanta Hawks. December 31, 2023 will be WSP’s ninth NYE show at the Fox if including an August 2022 run that was rescheduled from December 28 - 31, 2021 due to a spike in COVID-19 cases driven by the Omicron variant.

John Bell channeled Jim Morrison on “Soul Kitchen” and “Roadhouse Blues” to punctuate last night’s show. While the former was originally released on The Doors’ self-titled debut album in 1967, the latter initially arrived on the band’s 1970 record Morrison Hotel. Morrison wrote the lyrics to both with credit for the music shared with his bandmates — keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger and drummer John Densmore.

Widespread Panic debuted their cover of “Soul Kitchen” on October 28, 2000 at the Lakefront Arena in New Orleans during Halloween Weekend. As per EverydayCompanion.com, The sextet went 1,144 shows before playing the song again at their Halloween Weekend 2016 finale on October 30, 2016 in Broomfield, Colorado. “Soul Kitchen” disappeared once more until the third performance last night to end a 234-show gap.

Last night’s “Roadhouse Blues” was the second in Widespread Panic history. The band recruited keyboardist Adam MacDougall to contribute to the debut at Panic En La Playa 2022 in Mexico.

View fan-shot video of last night’s encore below:

Widespread Panic — John Bell, guitarist Jimmy Herring, bassist Dave Schools, keyboardist JoJo Hermann, drummer Duane Trucks and percussionist Domingo “Sunny” Ortiz — opened the run with the beloved “Ain’t Life Grand.” The focus remained on oldies as “Imitation Leather Shoes,” “Rock” and “Wondering” came next. “Good People” followed and instead of inserting the usual “Dark Bar” within, the band encapsulated “One Arm Steve” amid the Earth To America cut for the first time. A pair of blues songs brought last night’s first set to a close as Murray McLaughlin’s “Honky Red” and the JoJo-sung original “Blackout Blues” capped the unusually short frame.

The six-piece offered their newest original, “Little By Little,” to get Friday’s second set underway. A standalone “Porch Song” filled the two-slot ahead of a seamless run that would span the rest of the 90-minute closing stanza. The seven-song segment began with an “Aunt Avis” that gave way to a “Second Skin,” which birthed the free jazz exploration “Zambi Jam” in honor of the late Col. Bruce Hampton.

After the wild and dissonant improvisation, Panic lit into “Tie Your Shoes.” The beautiful instrumental “Party At Your Mama’s House” followed along with the band’s frequently played covers of J.J. Cale’s “Ride Me High” and Funkadelic’s “Red Hot Mama.” Widespread Panic tacked on “Fishwater” for the good measure and didn’t let go of “Red Hot Mama” quickly as John Bell and Dave Schools sang the chorus of the Funkadelic classic during the “Fishwater” intro.

Widespread Panic continues the run at Atlanta’s Fox Theatre tonight and concludes the run and 2023 at the historic venue on New Year’s Eve.

Photos by Ian Rawn

Setlist (via PanicStream.com)

Set One: Ain’t Life Grand, Imitation Leather Shoes, Rock > Wondering, Good People > One Arm Steve > Good People, Honky Red, Blackout Blues (50 mins)

Set Two: Little By Little, Porch Song, Aunt Avis > Second Skin > Zambi Jam > Tie Your Shoes > Party At Your Mama’s House > Ride Me High > Red Hot Mama > Fishwater (90 mins)

Encore: Soul Kitchen > Roadhouse Blues (9 mins)

Notes
– First ‘Good People’ sandwich with ‘One Arm Steve’
– ‘Red Hot Mama’ chorus during ‘Fishwater’ intro
– LTP ‘Soul Kitchen’ (The Doors) 10/30/16 Broomfield (234 shows) – 3rd time overall
– LTP ‘Roadhouse Blues’ (The Doors) 01/25/22 Playa (83 shows) – 2nd time overall