Widespread Panic Tells ‘Wizard Of Ozzy’ With Cover Debuts & Bust Outs For Halloween Concert In Savannah

Widespread Panic celebrated Halloween on Saturday with a “Wizard Of Ozzy”-themed concert to close a two-night stand at Enmarket Arena in Savannah, Georgia. The sextet mixed references to the 1939 film The Wizard Of Oz throughout the show and fit a number of Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne songs into the second set and encore on a night that featured a whopping seven cover debuts.

Members of the band played into The Wizard Of Oz theme by donning costumes for the occasion. Guitarists John Bell and Jimmy Herring served as the Apple Tree/Dorothy Gale and the Cowardly Lion respectively, percussionist Domingo “Sunny” Ortiz played the Scarecrow, keyboardist JoJo Hermann was the Tin Man, drummer Duane Trucks dressed as Glinda the Good Witch while bassist Dave Schools appeared as Almira Gulch the Wicked Witch.

Widespread Panic took the stage as the iconic MGM Lion roared and lit into their first take on Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here” since October 22, 2017 — a span of 207 shows — in perhaps a nod to the legend that Dark Side Of The Moon was made to sync up with The Wizard Of Oz. The first cover debut came a few songs later as Herring led an instrumental version of the Harold Arlen-penned “Over The Rainbow,” the only song from the film played on Saturday. “Over The Rainbow” gave way to a jam that bled into “Rebirtha” before Panic premiered their rendition of the Talking Heads classic “This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody).”

After working the Talking Heads cover into “Walkin’ (For Your Love)” via a “Wicked Witch jam,” Widespread Panic offered up the Grateful Dead’s “The Golden Road” for the first time as Dorothy traveled the Yellow Brick Road. Dorothy went on meet the Scarecrow (Willie Dixon’s “Weak Brain, Narrow Mind”), Tin Man (Neil Young’s “Heart Of Gold”) and Cowardly Lion (Willie Dixon’s “Tail Dragger”) later in a set that also featured the return of original “Life Is A Tree” last played when debuted on August 25, 2019 and a set-closing cover of Vic Chesnutt’s “Puppy Sleeps” also shelved since 2019. The latter referenced the scene where Dorothy falls asleep in a field of poppies.

Simulated snow fell from the ceiling of Enmarket Arena for a second set playing off the title of Ozzy Osbourne’s 1980 debut solo album Blizzard Of Oz. Fittingly, Widespread Panic unveiled a cover of Black Sabbath’s “Snowblind” to get the frame underway. Next, the band kept moving down the Yellow Brick Road via Neil Young’s “Walk On” and arrived at Emerald City with recently debuted originals “Little By Little” and “King Baby.”

The second set rolled on with Widespread Panic’s first cover of the Black Sabbath gem “Iron Man” since October 29, 2016. Dave Schools proclaimed “I am ironing!” at the start of the song. From there the sextet visited “This Part Of Town” and sent a “Postcard” before looking to Black Sabbath’s self-titled 1970 debut album to premiere “The Wizard” featuring John Bell on harmonica for the intro. Finally, “Mercy” and “Action Man” were split by the evening’s sixth cover debut — Ozzy Osbourne’s 1981 single “Mr. Crowley” — to close the set.

Both “Mr. Crowley” and the “Crazy Train” debut that started the encore are featured on Blizzard Of Oz. Widespread Panic punctuated another outstanding Halloween concert with “Climb To Safety.”

Watch more fan-shot video from Widespread Panic’s Wizard Of Ozzy Halloween show below:

Photos by Ian Rawn

Setlist (via PanicStream.com)

Set One: Wish You Were Here, Jack, Better Off, Greta, Over The Rainbow > Tornado jam > Rebirtha, This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody) > Wicked Witch jam > Walkin’ (For Your Love), The Golden Road, Weak Brain, Narrow Mind, Life As A Tree, Heart Of Gold, Tail Dragger, Puppy Sleeps (84 mins)

Set Two: Snowblind, Walk On, Little By Little, King Baby, Iron Man, This Part Of Town, Postcard, The Wizard, Mercy, Mr. Crowley, Action Man (74 mins)

Encore: Crazy Train, Climb To Safety (12 mins)

• – MGM Lion roar opened the show (the REAL Brown Cat)
• – LTP ‘Wish You Were Here’ 10/22/17 Milwaukee (207 shows)
• – FTP ‘Over the Rainbow’ (Jimmy-led instrumental)
• – FTP ‘This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)’ (Talking Heads)
• – FTP ‘The Golden Road’ (Grateful Dead)
• – LTP ‘Weak Brain, Narrow Mind’ 9/18/22 Oxon Hill (50 shows)
• – LTP ‘Life As A Tree’ 8/25/19 Nashville (134 shows)
• – LTP ‘Heart Of Gold’ 6/24/21 Denver (112 shows)
• – LTP ‘Puppy Sleeps’ 6/28/19 Red Rocks (144 shows)
• – FTP ‘Snowblind’ (Black Sabbath)
• – ‘Turn On Your Love Light’ jam during ‘Walk On’
• – LTP ‘Iron Man’ 10/29/16 Broomfield (205 shows)
• – FTP ‘The Wizard’ (Black Sabbath) – JB w/ harmonica for intro
• – FTP ‘Mr. Crowley’ (Ozzy Osbourne)
• – FTP ‘Crazy Train’ (Ozzy Osbourne)
• – Snow fell from ceiling entire 2nd set (Blizzard of Ozz album)