Widespread Panic Kicks Off Panic En La Playa 2026 With Nick Johnson

The Nick Johnson era began for Widespread Panic on Tuesday, as the band launched their Panic En La Playa Trece (PELP 13) destination event at the Hard Rock Hotel in Riviera Maya, Mexico. Johnson has stepped in to temporarily replace Jimmy Herring while “Gandalf the loud” undergoes another round of treatment for throat cancer.

Widespread Panic’s first full show with Nick Johnson on lead guitar featured one classic live staple after another, giving the Atlanta-based musician plenty of opportunities to show off his aggressive style and gritty tone. A seamless run of “Disco,” “Little Lilly” and “Rock” got the show and festival underway. Johnson received huge cheers of welcome from the crowd when he took his “Disco” solo.

“One Arm Steve” followed before the sextet used “Christmas Katie” as a lead-in for their cover of Bloodkin’s “Trashy.” Nick Johnson utilized tasty Houser-esque riffs on the subsequent “Holden Oversoul” ahead of the set-closing take on Warren Zevon’s “Lawyers, Guns & Money.”

Johnson and bandmates John Bell, Dave Schools, Domingo “Sunny” Ortiz, JoJo Hermann and Duane Trucks linked “Rebirtha” with “Sleeping Man” to open Tuesday’s second set. JB then belted out “Down” before “Hatfield” gave way to the evening’s “Drums” segment.

The post-“Drums” portion of the closing stanza featured a dream sequence of “Arleen” > “Driving Song” > “Tall Boy” > “Driving Song” along with a standalone “North.” Widespread Panic punctuated night one with an encore of “Smokestack Lightning” and “Porch Song.” PELP 13 continues on Wednesday with the band’s second of four shows at the event. Additionally, Eggy will take the Beach Stage and Karina Rykman is set to perform at PELP 13’s Stairway To Heaven venue.

Watch audience-captured video of Widespread Panic at PELP 13 shot by Bradford Walker:

Stream an audience recording taped by Coloartist below:

Setlist (via @WidespreadPanic)

Set One: Disco > Little Lilly > Rock, One Arm Steve, Christmas Katie > Trashy, Holden Oversoul, Lawyers, Guns & Money

Set Two: Rebirtha > Sleeping Man, Down, Hatfield > Drums > Arleen > Driving Song > Tall Boy > Driving Song, North

Encore: Smokestack Lighting, Porch Song