Widespread Panic Brings New Song Debut, Special Guest & More To 2024 Red Rocks Run

After nearly three decades of holding down the same early summer slot at the famed Red Rocks Amphitheatre, this week in Widespread Panic lore was already a bit different and notably buzzed-about. Prior to kicking off their own thing on Friday, Widespread Panic opened for The Rolling Stones on Thursday night at Mile High Stadium, a once unthinkable occurrence that finally came to fruition since it was first in the works in the 1990s and didn’t pan out.

A brief set on Thursday was noted for its closing “Chilly Water,” which surely caught some of The Stones fans off-guard (and wet). June was also notable for Panic, with the release of their 13th LP Snake Oil King just a week prior, a fantastic six-song set of tunes that have immediately found adoration amidst Panic setlists.

Red Rocks Night One (Friday)

On the first proper day of summer, Widespread Panic returned to Colorado on Friday to extend their record to 70 sold-out shows at the famed Red Rocks Amphitheatre, kicking off the three-night run with a show that played out more like the expansive Sunday shows that have become a can’t miss. The shows have become a signpost of summer settling in, a trusted tradition now running for over a quarter century and counting, dating back to the debut show in 1996.

Set one was relatively run of the mill and felt like an easing-in of sorts, running at nearly an hour in the daylight before set break and highlighted by the final pairing of “King Baby” into “Love Tractor” (the latter of which was debuted last summer at Red Rocks).

After dusk, the Athens, Georgia-bred jam titans returned for a relentless and nearly two-hour onslaught of highly sought-after live classics, not stopping for a song break for 90 minutes as they barreled through a smoldering segment of “Red Hot Mama” > “Bear’s Gone Fishin’” > “Blight > “Driving Song” > “Greta” > “You Got Yours” > “Entering A Black Hole Backwards” > “Tie Your Shoes” > “Drums” > “Party At Your Mama’s House” > “Driving Song,” which only built and built with energy, ferocity, filled with boundary-pushing improvisation and some moments of heavy freight train hard rock segments.

The encore served as a baseball-themed tribute to the late great “Say Hey Kid” Willie Mays, who passed away at the age of 93 with “Rebirtha” (a song about the ’94 baseball strike), “One Arm Steve” (a song that namechecks Willie Mays in the lyrics) and the sentimental Vic Chesnutt / Brute encore staple “Expiration Day.”

After playing Mile High Stadium on Thursday at an unprecedented opening set for The Rolling Stones and knocking it clean out of the park in set two on opening night, the table was set for one of the more memorable weeks in Colorado in the history of the band.

Friday, June 21 Setlist (via Panicstream)

Set One: Mr. Soul, Ain’t Life Grand, Up All Night > I’m Not Alone, Goodpeople > Dark Bar > Goodpeople, Thought Sausage, King Baby > Love Tractor

Set Two: Red Hot Mama > Bear’s Gone Fishin’ > Blight > Driving Song > Greta > You Got Yours > Entering A Black Hole Backwards > Tie Your Shoes > Drums > Party At Your Mama’s House > Driving Song, Down, Halloween Face

Set Encore: Rebirtha, One Arm Steve, Expiration Day

Notes:

• [‘Hey Pocky Way’ and ‘Paint It Black’ teases during ‘Tie Your Shoes’]

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Red Rocks Night Two (Saturday)

For the middle portion of the three-night stint, Panic returned with an array of original tunes (the uptempo pair of “Little Lilly” into “Blackout Blues” to kick things into frenzy mode out of the gate) from across the band’s nearly four decades.

The much talked about highlight of the night would occur when multi-instrumentalist and friend-of-the-band Jason Crosby joined the band at the end of set one, trading solos on fiddle with guitarist Jimmy Herring “Ribs and Whiskey,” the instrumental powerhouse “The Take Out,” covering “There Is a Time,” before finishing off the four-song run with the classic “Porch Song” to end set one.

Following the desolate and powerful “Mercy,” “Cosmic Confidante” from the band’s latest LP Snake Oil King made its second appearance since its debut a month prior before a couple of longtime staples “Airplane” and “Climb to Safety,” closed out the second frame.

An all-covers encore would seal the deal on night two, beginning with Murray McLauchlan’s “Honky Red” and Warren Zevon’s “Keep Me in Your Heart,” perhaps a follow-up nod to Bill Bass (the legendary Colorado promoter who was tributed all weekend during the 2023 run when “Keep Me In Your Heart” was debuted by the band). As a finale, it was The Guess Who’s “No Sugar Tonight / New Mother Nature” coupling to send off the crowd buzzing with only one big (earlier) evening show to go.

Saturday, June 22 Setlist (via Panicstream)

Set One: Little Lilly > Blackout Blues, Better Off, B of D, Old Neighborhood, Makes Sense To Me, Tackle Box Hero, Ribs And Whiskey* > The Take Out* > There Is A Time* > Porch Song*

Set Two: Radio Child, Trashy > Pleas > Fishwater > Bust It Big > Fishwater, Mercy > Cosmic Confidante > Airplane > Climb To Safety

Set Encore: Honky Red, Keep Me in Your Heart, No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature

Notes:

• * with Jason Crosby on fiddle

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Red Rocks Night Three (Sunday)

For the final chapter of Widespread Panic’s annual Red Rocks run at the geologically-crafted wonder venue, the band extended their record spanning nearly three decades to 72 consecutive sold-out shows with yet another Sunday exclamation point finale.

Like night one (which opened with “Mr Soul”), Panic chose to open the night with a Buffalo Springfield cover, playing the classic protest song “For What It’s Worth” to open the show (a tune Panic played at their very first show at a house party in Athens at the A-Frame way back when).

Panic released their latest LP this month, and it includes some of the strongest original material the band has written in years. The album’s two strongest songs made appearances in set one with the heart-wrenching, beautiful and emotional “We Walk Each Other Home” (a song co-written with Jerry Joseph about letting go of a beloved dog) and the soaring and heavy “Little By Little” (preceded by the debut of the Snake Oil King track “Small Town”). Set one’s uptempo flavor continued til the finish line, closing out the set with “Flat Foot Flewzy” (a rarity outside of a Saturday night).

Neil Young must’ve been on the mind this weekend, as Panic would return with Young’s “Don’t Be Denied” before a classics heavy run through some of Panic’s tried and true fan favorites and jam vehicles, including “Space Wrangler,” a cover of Dr. John’s “I Walk on Guilded Splinters,” “Barstools and Dreamers,” a run through “Saint Ex” > “Ride Me High” > “Blue Indian” and the fan favorite Warren Zevon cover “Lawyers, Guns and Money” to close set two (the second time this run Panic covered WZ).

For the encore, another new track kicked things off with “Life As A Tree” before the band sent Red Rocks off in style with a pair of classics “Pigeons” and the fitting “Postcard” to further style yet another incredible set of shows for the storied band.

I see you in a
Thousand costumes
Strike many a silent pose
I heard you tell a thousand stories
Everyone in a different voice
Still I try, to make you happy
Still I try, to make you sing
Now if you’re wonderin’, what I think of it all
Just read the back of this postcard
The air here, breathing’s great
Lord, we’ve cooked ourselves
Now were cookin’ up an ass kickin’ time (didn’t we?)
This town is nuts, my kind of place
I don’t want to leave

– Widespread Panic “Postcard”

Sunday, June 23 Setlist (via Panicstream)

Set One: For What It’s Worth, Holden Oversoul > Action Man, Papa’s Home, We Walk Each Other Home, Junior, Vacation, Small Town+, Little By Little > Flat Foot Flewzy (68 mins)

Set Two: Don’t Be Denied, Space Wrangler, Blue Carousel > I Walk On Guilded Splinters > Machine > Barstools and Dreamers, Coconut > Saint Ex > Ride Me High > Blue Indian, Lawyers, Guns, and Money (95 mins)

Set Encore: Life As A Tree, Pigeons, Postcard (20 mins)

Notes:

• + Debut, first time performed live