Photo Credit: Dino Perrucci

Last night, April 18, Widespread Panic returned to the main stage at the Hard Rock Hotel in Riviera Maya, Mexico, for the band’s final performance of Panic en la Playa Doce. To punctuate its 12th annual concert getaway, the jam figureheads presented their most thrilling set of the series, including a fistful of rarities, covers, tactfully placed essentials and next-level improvisatory runs that kept the crowd’s energy at a constant peak through the three-hour show. This farewell to the tropical escape also featured the first sit-ins of the series, as the band invited support from George Porter Jr. and Daniel Donato.

After earlier sets from Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country and Peter Levin, Widespread Panic stormed the stage with the high-speed shuffle of 1999 classic “Walkin’ (For Your Love).” The band built on this energy with the coveted deep cut “Fishing,” which saw its 55th staging since its 2003 debut, then segued into the funky and folksy live staple “Big Wooly Mammoth” and on to Neil Young’s “Walk On,” which the outfit has honed with occasional treatments nearly every year since 1987. Shortly following, the band blazed through another medley, setting “Airplane” and “Greta” as bookends for “Take-Off Jam,” which has only appeared nine times since 1987, and pulling it all together with “Blue Indian.” After this jaw-dropping run, the group closed out its first set with its 23rd presentation of the dark, stormy and pioneering “Halloween Face.”

Panic returned to the stage with “Chilly Water,” the first track off its 1988 debut album Space Wrangler. Before long, the group launched into another medley, blending brute. original “Blight” into the essential “Diner,” the fourth-ever performance of “Zambi Jam” and “Saint Ex.” After advancing towards the evening’s end with the sweetly nostalgic recent single “We Walk Each Other Home,” the band took a moment to call Donato and Porter Jr. to the stage, both of whom performed through the week as part of specially assembled supergroups Trouble No More and Playa Allstars. Together, these icons delivered covers of J.J. Cale’s “Ride Me High” and Skip James’ “I’m So Glad,”–yet another rarity–to conclude the main portion of the performance. The band returned for an encore with The Beatles’ “Dear Prudence” and fan favorite “Love Tractor” to send the crowd off smiling after a historic show and series.

Widespread Panic will return on April 25 as part of New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, then take the stage 11 more times this summer through residencies in Memphis, Tenn., Morrison, Colo., Asheville, N.C. and Boston. For tickets and more information, visit widespreadpanic.com/shows/. 

Read on for the complete setlist from the final night of Panic el la Playa Doce, and watch a fan-recorded video from the show below.

Widespread Panic
Panic en la Playa Doce – Riviera Maya, Mexico
4/17/24

Set I: Walkin’ (For Your Love), Fishing > Big Wooly Mammoth > Walk On+, Thought Sausage, Airplane > Take-off Jam > Greta > Blue Indian, Halloween Face
Set II: Chilly Water, Jack, Blight~ > Diner > Zambi Jam > Saint Ex, We Walk Each Other Home, Postcard, Ride Me High*# > I’m So Glad*^
Encore: Dear Prudence@, Love Tractor

Notes:
* w/ Daniel Donato and George Porter Jr.
+ Neil Young cover
~ Originally recorded by brute.
# J.J. Cale cover
^ Skip James cover
@ The Beatles cover