Widespread Panic Extends Red Rocks Legacy & Joins Colorado Music Hall Of Fame

Widespread Panic returned to Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado this past weekend for their annual run at the historic venue, delivering three more sold-out performances that reinforced, once again, why the band and the venue remain forever associated as tightly as Phish at MSG or the Grateful Dead at Winterland. This year’s three-night run marked sell outs #76, #77 and #78 at the legendary venue for the Athens, Georgia-born jam titans, who first headlined Red Rocks thirty years ago in 1996.

Of note, this run also served as the Red Rocks debut of guitarist Nick Johnson, who has played with the band since the 2025 New Years run at the Fox Theatre in ATL, and remained in the lead guitar role while longtime guitarist Jimmy Herring continues to recover from cancer treatment. If there were any lingering questions about how Johnson’s tones would jibe with amphitheatre’s vast natural acoustics and the grandiosity of the setting (and occasion), these were put to rest early and emphatically on night one.

“Less talk, more rock, let’s have some fun” — Dave Schools

Friday, June 26

On Night one, the band and fans were met with a stunningly breezy and beautiful evening on the Rocks. The first set eased in with “One Arm Steve” and worked through a mix of originals including “Better Off,” the JJ Cale cover “Travelin’ Light,” and “Papa Johnny Road” before the band meandered and muscled through a closing triad of “Diner > Bear’s Gone Fishin’ > Holden Oversoul” and while these frames are common and expected (yet not taken for granted, at least by me) across Panic’s history, they hit different in this place.

Set one lifted the bar and energy to appropriate Red Rocks levels and “Protein Drink > Sewing Machine” set the tone for one of the stronger sets of the weekend. As an interlude, “Down” provided a brief standalone moment and nod to Todd Nance, before the floodgates opened and the band unleashed one of the week’s peak segments, running through “Fishing > Dirty Business > Stop-Go > Maggot Brain > Love Tractor” that consumed the remainder of the set in a swirling, sprawling and psychedelic mega-segment. The crown jewel (of this and arguably the weekend) was a cover of Funkadelic’s “Maggot Brain,” the Eddie Hazel guitar opus that has served as a proving ground for elite guitarists since its release over fifty years ago. Johnson rose to the occasion, delivering a searing and patient reading of the iconic solo that built from its signature sorrowful opening tones to a roaring wail that rang out in the rock-framed amphitheatre. If you’re going to platform a new guitarist at such a grand venue, might as well swing for the fences. A magical moment for sure.

For the encore, Panic returned with “Nobody’s Loss,” a first playing of “Tickle the Truth” since December 30, 2023 and signed off with JoJo Hermann's “Blackout Blues,” sending the night one crowd home buzzing.

Saturday, June 27

Saturday’s show brought a notable milestone during the set break, as the band was officially inducted into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame as the first “Honorary Coloradan” inductee. Panic was honored alongside the late legendary promoter Bill Bass, who helped shape Colorado’s music scene into what it is today and worked closely with the band to first bring them to headline Red Rocks in 1996. The band honored Bass at their Red Rocks run in 2023 following his passing earlier that year. The induction formalized what most Colorado music fans have long understood: few acts from outside the state have woven themselves more deeply into the fabric of the Colorado live music landscape than Widespread Panic.

The first set (and entire show for that matter) was stacked with songs Panic fans know inside and out, and the first set opened up with “The Take Out,” “Wondering,” “Little Kin,” and “C. Brown” before another meaty segue sandwich “Goodpeople > Dark Bar > Goodpeople,” arrived. After a quick breather, the standalone “Porch Song” closed the first frame in rowdy singalong fashion.

Following a brief tale about the song’s origins (going all the way back to their time in Athens and receiving a postcard from Telluride from their friend Bear with the message “the air here is great, we’re having an ass-kickin’ time, this town is nuts, my kind of place, I don’t ever wanna leave”) delivered by Dave Schools during the induction ceremony, Saturday’s second set opened with “Postcard” before finding the classic centerpoint of the weekend, as the band ran through an absolutely quintessential “Surprise Valley > Climb to Safety > Surprise Valley”. After a quick regroup pause, “Travelin’ Man > The Waker > Arleen” followed, before “Pilgrims” and “Flat Foot Flewzy” brought the set to a close. Set two on Saturday, jukebox Panic at its finest, albeit a touch short by Panic-at-Red-Rocks standards if there was one note/gripe from the crowd.

The encore featured the return of the emotive cover of Warren Zevon’s “Keep Me in Your Heart” as a tribute/nod to Bill Bass (they also covered this song during the 2023 run when the band dedicated the entire Red Rocks run to him after his passing). To follow, “Saint Ex,” and the raucous “Lawyers, Guns, and Money” (another Zevon cover) capped Saturday on the Rocks (a place Dave Schools referred to during his aforementioned speech as “the gates of heaven”).

Sunday, June 28

Thirty years after their first headlining show at Red Rocks and forty years (and change) into their career, Widespread Panic wrapped the annual run on Sunday night with a memorable marathon performance. The finale kicked off with “Big Wooly Mammoth” as the sun still beamed on the stage and most of the amphitheatre just after 6 p.m., and the sold-out crowd was treated to approximately three hours and twenty-two minutes of music before the final notes rang out.

The first set was comprised entirely of Panic originals, working through “Jack,” “Radio Child,” and “This Part of Town” before the set’s defining sequence emerged: “Fishwater > All Time Low > Fishwater” delivered the kind of rocket-fire energy and musical dynamics that the band has delivered over their four decades, and the run through “Rock” and “Heroes” into the set-closing “Papa’s Home” landed the ship to refuel as the sun fell behind the rocks.

Playing amidst a majestic and picturesque full (Strawberry) moonrise over the southeastern ridge, the band unleashed a monstrous second set that clocked in at 107 minutes. “North” and “Gradle” opened the frame before the band pivoted from an originals-heavy run to hit on an array of classic, well-worn covers: Neil Young’s “Don’t Be Denied,” Robert Johnson’s “Stop Breakin’ Down Blues” and a JJ Cale/Parliament-Funkadelic pairing of “Ride Me High > Red Hot Mama” all made appearances in set two. Notably, the expansive “Second Skin” provided some of the evening’s most adventurous improvisation, while “Airplane > Drums > Halloween Face” plunged the proceedings into darker, more psychedelic territory befitting the late hour, with an impressively psychedelic and dark light array to match the vibe.

After encoring with “Greta > You Got Yours” and “May Your Glass Be Filled,” the band returned to the stage for their first double encore at Red Rocks since June 24, 2000. They wrapped the run with Tom Waits’ chooglin’ “Goin’ Out West,” a fitting signoff as the band heads up and over next week to Wyoming, and on to Montana, Oregon and California for a midsummer western tour.

Across all three nights on the Rocks, Panic, after yet another lineup adjustment, once again demonstrated the ability to tweak configuration, stay grounded in their approach and deliver on the decades-long tradition(s) of excellence, while yet again throwing one of the year’s best parties.

However long the call to duty requires, Nick Johnson has, by all appearances, settled into the role with poise and a demeanor consistent with Michael Houser, George McConnell and Jimmy Herring’s stoic lead shredder personas. His impressive chops rival his predecessors, matched by a seemingly bookish dedication to learning the band’s extraordinarily large and eclectic catalog.

Seventy-eight sell outs and counting, until next year!

Setlists & Official Audio (via nugs)

Friday, June 26, 2026 || Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, CO || SELL OUT #76

Set One: One Arm Steve, Better Off, Travelin’ Light, Little By Little, Papa Johnny Road, Diner > Bear’s Gone Fishin’ > Holden Oversoul

Set Two: Protein Drink > Sewing Machine, Down, Fishing > Dirty Business > Stop-Go > Maggot Brain > Love Tractor

Encore: Nobody’s Loss, Tickle the Truth^, Blackout Blues

^LTP: 12/30/2023

Saturday, June 27, 2026 || Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, CO || SELL OUT #77

Set One: The Take Out, Wondering, Little Kin, C. Brown, 1 x 1, Trashy, Goodpeople > Dark Bar > Goodpeople, Porch Song

Set Two: Postcard, Surprise Valley > Climb To Safety > Surprise Valley, Travelin’ Man > The Waker > Arleen, Pilgrims, Flat Foot Flewzy

Encore: Keep Me in Your Heart, Saint Ex, Lawyers, Guns, And Money

Notes: Widespread Panic and legendary Colorado promoter Bill Bass inducted into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame during set break.

Sunday, June 28, 2026 || Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, CO || SELL OUT #78

Set One: Big Wooly Mammoth, Jack, Radio Child, This Part Of Town, Fishwater > All Time Low > Fishwater, Rock, Heroes, Papa’s Home

Set Two: North, Gradle, Don’t Be Denied, Party At Your Mama’s House > Stop Breakin’ Down Blues, Second Skin, Airplane > Drums > Halloween Face, Ride Me High > Red Hot Mama

Encore: Greta > You Got Yours, May Your Glass Be Filled

Encore2: Goin’ Out West

Notes: First double encore at Red Rocks since 6/24/2000.