Photo by Jay Blakesberg, via Dave Schools on IG

After joining the festival at the 11th hour, filling in for Fleetwood Mac (who were originally filling in for The Rolling Stones), Widespread Panic enjoyed their return to Jazz Fest on Thursday, May 2, jamming through some of their own tunes as well as some New Orleans favorites with original Meters bassist George Porter Jr.

While WSP were technically a late addition to the Fest, they performed in their traditional Thursday time slot at the Aura Stage, opening their single set with a stand-alone versions of “Pigeons” and “Ain’t Life Grand.” They kept the momentum up with a nice “Little Lilly”> “Tall Boy” segment, and allowed Jimmy Herring to stretch his wings a bit on the guitar-laden “Sell Sell.” From there, the band segued into “Henry Parsons Died,” before offering a version of Street Dogs cut “Honky Red.”

The most extensive jam of the set came with the five-part “Up All Night”> “Surprise Valley”> “Ride Me High”> “Run Like Hell Jam”> “Rebirtha” movement. And while things slowed down momentarily with “North,” fans were thrilled to see George Porter Jr. step onstage for two Dr. John tunes, namely “I Walk On Guilded Splinters” and “Familiar Reality.” (The latter tune hasn’t appeared on a WSP setlist since 12/30/14, with a show gap of 230.)

After jamming with GPJ, Widespread Panic bassist Dave Schools reflected on the experience, writing via Instagram, “I’ve never been so sweetly destroyed. I love this man and I owe him…because every bit of soul that I put into anything I do has a lot of him in it. For that I’m grateful.” Widespread Panic collaborated with George Porter Jr. as recently as January 2019, where the Meters bassist appeared at the Panic En La Playa destination event.

After applauding George Porter Jr. one more time, Widespread Panic closed their Jazz Fest set with “Love Tractor,” “Blackout Blues” and, of course, a rowdy version of “Chilly Water.”

Check out the full setlist as it appears in our Box Scores section below:

Widespread Panic
May 2, 2019
New Orleans Jazz Fest

Pigeons, Ain’t Life Grand^, Little Lilly > Tall Boy, Bayou Lena, Sell Sell > Henry Parsons Died, Honky Red, Up All Night > Surprise Valley > Ride Me High > Run Like Hell jam > Rebirtha, North, I Walk On Guilded Splinters* > Familiar Reality*+, Love Tractor, Blackout Blues, Chilly Water (148 mins)

Notes:
* w/ George Porter Jr. on bass
^ w/ JB on mandolin
+ LTP 12/30/2014 Charlotte (230 shows)

Source:
PanicStream