After a weather-shortened show on night one of Panic En La Playa, Widespread Panic got to play a full two-set show on Saturday night at the Hard Rock Hotel in Riviera Maya, Mexico. The jam stalwarts second of four scheduled appearances saw them welcome a pair of guests to help them close out their main set.
John Bell & Co. got the night underway with a take on Van Morrison’s “And It Stoned Me.” Fan favorite “Disco” followed, with the band next looking to “Good People” from 2006’s Back To Earth and live staple “Worry.” Keyboardist JoJo Herman stepped up to the mic next for “1X1,” which was trotted out for just the third time since 2016. “Second Skin,” which also has become a bit of a rarity of late saw action next. Widespread Panic brought their first frame of the night to close with the pair of two old-school songs that date back to the band’s early days as the unreleased instrumental “Machine” segued into “Barstool and Dreamers.”
The Southern-jam titans second set of the night started out with “A of D,” the instrumental was only played twice in all of 2017 and kicked off lengthy, segued-filled run. After takes on “Bear’s Gone Fishin'” and “Tall Boy,” Panic has a little setlist fun nodding to their rain-shortened show from the night before with a cover of Bob Dylan’s “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall.” Later in the set, the band welcomed out guitarist Eric Krasno and keyboardist Ivan Neville , who are both a part of the Playa Allstars, a special band put together for the destination festival.
The augmented ensemble dug in on a cover of Funkadelic’s “Maggot Brain,” which gave Kraz and Neville an opportunity to show off their chops. J.J. Cale’s “Ride Me Ride” from his 1976 release Troubadour followed with the “Bust It Big” bringing things to a close. Widespread Panic brought their night to an end with a two-song encore as they first offer a take on “Genesis” from Jorma Kaukonen’s 1974 album “Quah,” which segued straight into “Love Tractor.”
Watch a nearly 14-minute take on “Maggot Brain” and check out the full setlist below:
Setlist (via PanicStream)
Set I: And It Stoned Me, Disco, Good People, Worry, 1×1, Second Skin, Machine > Barstools and Dreamers (68 mins)
Set II: A of D > Bear’s Gone Fishin’ > Tall Boy > A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall, Dyin’ Man > Sell Sell > Drums > Drums & Bass > Maggot Brain* > Ride Me High* > Bust It Big* (102 mins)
Encore: Genesis > Love Tractor (12 mins)
* w/ Eric Krasno (guitar) and Ivan Neville (keys)
