Winding down their fall tour, Widespread Panic played a show at the old Lyric Opera House, now known as the Model Performing Arts Center.  The venue isn’t a place you’d expect to see a band like Panic, but the acoustics are great and really enhanced the show.  There was limited room for dancing with fixed seats. This recently refurbished and renamed venue has a capacity of a little more than 2500 and is clearly not prepared for an event like a Widespread Panic show; they ran out of beer at the set-break.  The band had a couple days off before the Baltimore stop, and it seemed the rest served them well.  The sound was great, however, little too loud.  I saw several comments online that also complained of the volume being a little too much.

The show opened up with Heroes, then Diner into Little Lilly into Cotton Was King.  Next up was Down, which featured a vocal duet by JB and drummer, Todd Nance.  The overlapping voices created a cool “3D-like” effect.  This was followed by Proving Ground.  The first set closed out with the triplet Aunt Avis into the Tom Waits cover, Goin’ Out West, into Ribs and Whiskey.

Set two opened up with the Neil Young cover Last Dance, then Tortured Artist, and Sleepy Monkey.  Next was All Time Low into St. Louis, then Shut Up and Drive. The set was going full force now, with Hatfield into Impossible into Pleas.  The set wrapped up with Ron Holloway from the Warren Haynes Band sitting in on the Bill Withers cover, Use Me.  After a short encore break, the band returned with Degenerate and then invited Ron Holloway back on stage for Are You Ready for the Country, another Neil Young tune. 

The remaining shows of the fall tour were in Syracuse, Boston and then the final show in New York City.  The band has no shows scheduled after that until the Warren Haynes’ Christmas Jam on December 13 in Asheville, NC, and then a New Year’s Eve run in Atlanta.

Set I

Heroes, Diner > Little Lilly > Cotton Was King, Down, Proving Ground, Aunt Avis > Goin’ Out West > Ribs and Whiskey

Set II

Last Dance, Tortured Artist, Sleepy Monkey, All Time Low > St. Louis, Shut Up and Drive, Hatfield > Impossible > Pleas, Us Me

Encore

Degenerate, Are You Ready for the Country