Widespread Panic brings new song debut, special guest and more to Red Rocks Run 2024

After holding the same early summer slot at the famed Red Rocks Amphitheatre for nearly three decades, this week in Widespread Panic’s history was a different one and one that generated a lot of excitement. Before starting their own thing on Friday, Widespread Panic opened for the Rolling Stones on Thursday night at Mile High Stadium, a once unthinkable event that has finally become a reality, having first been planned in the 1990s and not worked out.

A brief appearance on Thursday was notable for the closing song “Chilly Water,” which certainly surprised (and got wet) some Stones fans. June was also notable for Panic, with the release of their 13th LP Snake Oil King Just a week earlier, they played a fantastic six-song set that was immediately well received in Panic’s setlists.

Red Rocks, first night (Friday)

On the first true day of summer, Widespread Panic returned to Colorado on Friday to increase their record to 70 sold-out shows at the famed Red Rocks Amphitheatre. The three-day tour kicked off with a show that was more like the extended can’t-miss Sunday shows. The shows have become a sign that summer is coming, a time-tested tradition that has now lasted for over a quarter century, dating back to the debut show in 1996.

The first set was relatively average and felt like a warm-up of sorts. It ran for nearly an hour in daylight before the set break and its climax was the closing pairing of “King Baby” with “Love Tractor” (the latter premiered at Red Rocks last summer).

After dark, the jam titans from Athens, Georgia, returned for a relentless and nearly two-hour onslaught of highly coveted live classics, not pausing for a song break for 90 minutes as they battled through a smoldering stretch 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” that kept building with energy and ferocity, full of boundary-pushing improvisation and a few moments of lumbering freight train hard rock segments.

The encore was a baseball tribute to the late, great “Say Hey Kid” Willie Mays, who passed away at the age of 93, with “Rebirtha” (a song about the 1994 baseball strike), “One Arm Steve” (a song whose lyrics mention Willie Mays by name) and the sentimental Vic Chesnutt / Brute encore classic, “Expiration Day.”

After the Rolling Stones made an unprecedented opening appearance at Mile High Stadium on Thursday, scoring a bang in the second set of opening night, the stage was set for one of the most memorable weeks in Colorado in the band’s history.

Friday, June 21st Setlist (via Panicstream)

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

Second movement: 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

Encore: Rebirtha, One Arm Steve, Expiration Day

Remarks:

• (Announcements for “Hey Pocky Way” and “Paint It Black” during “Tie Your Shoes”)

Red Rocks, second night (Saturday)

For the middle portion of the three-day set, Panic returned with a set of original songs from the band’s nearly four decades (the uptempo pairing of “Little Lilly” and “Blackout Blues” got things going from the start).

The much-noticed highlight of the evening was when multi-instrumentalist and friend of the band Jason Crosby joined the band at the end of the first set and played violin solos with guitarist Jimmy Herring on “Ribs and Whiskey,” covered the instrumental powerhouse “The Take Out,” “There Is a Time,” and closed the four songs of the first set with the classic “Porch Song.”

After the dark and powerful “Mercy” comes “Cosmic Confidante” from the band’s latest LP Snake Oil King made his second appearance since his debut a month earlier, before the two long-standing classics “Airplane” and “Climb to Safety” closed the second frame.

An encore of all covers sealed the deal on night two, starting with Murray McLauchlan’s “Honky Red” and Warren Zevon’s “Keep Me in Your Heart,” perhaps another nod to Bill Bass (the legendary Colorado promoter honored all weekend long during the 2023 tour when the band premiered “Keep Me In Your Heart”). Closing out was the Guess Who’s “No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature” combo, which got the crowd going wild despite only one major (earlier) evening show remaining.

Saturday, June 22nd Setlist (via Panicstream)

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

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

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

Remarks:

• * with Jason Crosby on violin

Red Rocks, third night (Sunday)

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

Like on the first night (which began with “Mr Soul”), Panic decided to open the evening with a cover of Buffalo Springfield, opening the show with the classic protest song “For What It’s Worth” (a song Panic had played at their very first gig at a house party at the A-Frame in Athens).

Panic released their latest LP this month, and it contains some of the strongest original material the band has written in years. The album’s two strongest songs appeared in the first set with the heartbreaking, 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 band’s debut Snake Oil King track “Small Town”). The uptempo touch of set one continued to the finish line, closing the set with “Flat Foot Flewzy” (a rarity outside of a Saturday night).

Neil Young must have been on the cards this weekend, as Panic returned with Young’s “Don’t Be Denied” before moving on to 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 out the second set (the second time Panic covered WZ this run).

The encore featured another new track, “Life As A Tree,” before the band bid Red Rocks a stylish farewell with two classics, “Pigeons” and the fitting “Postcard,” adding even more style to another incredible series of performances from the historic band.

I see you in a
A thousand costumes
Do lots of still poses
I have heard you tell a thousand stories
Everyone with a different voice
Still, I try to make you happy
Still, I’m trying to make you sing
If you are now wondering what I think about this
Just read the back of this postcard
The air here, breathing is great
Lord, we cooked ourselves
Now it’s time to really step on the gas (or not?)
This city is crazy, just my thing
I do not want to go

– Widespread panic “postcard”

Sunday, June 23rd Setlist (via Panicstream)

First set: For What It’s Worth, Holden Oversoul > Action Man, Daddy’s Home, We Walk Each Other Home, Junior, Vacation, Small Town+, Little by Little > Flat Foot Flewzy (68 min.)

Second movement: 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 min.)

Encore: Life as a tree, pigeons, postcard (20 min.)

Remarks:

• + Debut, first performed live