Widespread Panic Nods To Bernie Worrell At Red Rocks

In this 75th year of Red Rocks, it’s only fitting Widespread Panic returns for a three-night stand at the famed Morrison, Colorado venue. The Georgia rockers kicked off the run on Friday night with their 53rd show at Red Rocks, the vast majority of which have been sell-outs and headlining performances. Friday’s show focused on older material and included a tribute to keyboardist Bernie Worrell who died earlier in the day.

After opening with the beloved “Ain’t Life Grand,” Widespread Panic delivered an impressive “Happy” > “Airplane” > “Rebirtha” sequence most notable for guitarist Jimmy Herring’s strong work on “Airplane.” The tour’s first versions of “Chunk Of Coal” and “Contentment Blues” came next before “Steven’s Cat,” the only song played on Friday debuted within the past five years. It was then back to old school favorites as the band ended the set with “Space Wrangler” and “Radio Child.”

When WSP returned for the second set they opened up with the first song they ever played under the moniker Widespread Panic, Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth.” The frenetic “Pigeons” came next ahead of “You Got Yours” which hadn’t been performed at Red Rocks since Michael Houser’s final run at the venue in 2002. Later in the set the band split the usual “Protein Drink”/”Sewing Machine” pairing by inserting “Drums” between them. Panic ended the set by honoring Bernie Worrell with a cover of the Parliament-Funkadelic classic “Red Hot Mama.” The show concluded with a “1×1” > “Action Man” encore.

Widespread Panic continues the Red Rocks run tonight. A webcast is available via nugs.tv.

Setlist (via PanicStream)

Set One: Ain’t Life Grand, Happy > Airplane > Rebirtha > Chunk of Coal, Contentment Blues, Steven’s Cat, Space Wrangler, Radio Child (60 mins)

Set Two: For What It’s Worth, Pigeons > You Got Yours > Good People > Dyin’ Man, Cotton Was King > Cotton Jam > Protein Drink > Drumz > Drumz & Bass > Sewing Machine, Climb To Safety, Red Hot Mama (89 mins)

Encore: 1 x 1 > Action Man