Widespread Panic take Halloween very seriously. Since first celebrating the holiday at the hallowed haunt of Athens, Ga.’s Uptown Lounge in 1987, the band has annually upped the ante by donning eccentric costumes and continually shaking up its setlist with oddball covers. Though the sextet was forced to cancel its 2024 run, Panic keeps the tradition alive today with the first-ever studio recording of “Halloween Face,” available on all streaming platforms now.
Since its debut at WSP’s 2021 Halloween show–unforgettably issued by frontman John Bell as Space Ghost–“Halloween Face” has become a hallmark of the band’s live canon. Today’s studio release perfects the moody, shuffling jam vehicle accented by spectral organ and vamping piano, adding an extended closing section of thundering, hellish guitars that bring the brimstone home to listeners for the band’s holiday away from the stage.
“Halloween Face” arrives as the fourth preview single for the band’s forthcoming 14th studio album Hailbound Queen, following “Blue Carousel” and covers of Bloodkin’s “Trashy” and Warren Zevon’s “Keep Me in Your Heart,” all of which have recently become live favorites. Hailbound Queen is set to release next Friday, Nov. 8 as a follow-up and structural counterpart to Snake Oil King, which landed on June 14 as the iconic jamband’s first album in nine years.
Though Widespread Panic were initially scheduled to celebrate Halloween at Savannah, Ga.’s Enmarket Arena on Nov. 1 and 2, these Halloweekend stagings were canceled with the rest of the band’s 2024 tour itinerary in the summer as the band recalibrated following guitarist Jimmy Herring’s cancer diagnosis. On Monday, Oct. 28, the band brought the fans to breathe easy again when it formally announced its return to the road, plotting a three-night series at Atlantic City, N.J.’s Hard Rock Live at Estess Arena on Feb. 14-16. For tickets and more information, visit widespreadpanic.com/shows/.
Listen to “Halloween Face” below.
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