Widespread Panic Bookend Milwaukee Run with Revived Tunes

Photo: Marc Millman

On Friday, October 24, Widespread Panic arrived at The Riverside Theater in Milwaukee for the first of three nights of live performances. During the run, the band focused on delivering a heavy offering of original songs paired with a handful of choice covers, which decorated each night with others’ words and rhythms. The ensemble seemed to pay particular attention to their songbook, pulling out specifics that had been shelved for a long time and needed a bit of love and attention after a time out.

The Peach State ensemble opened its Midwest stop with “Blue Indian,” and kept up the tonal references on “Contentment Blues.” They carried through “Henry Parsons Died,” then dropped into a sequence of “Goodpeople” > “Dark Bar” > “Goodpeople.” After coming up for air, they added a pairing of “Happy” into “1 x 1.” The former represented a return to the Bombs & Butterflies-featured song for the first time since April 15, 2024, while the latter also served a revival, having not been played since May 27, 2023, before Friday evening. Before submitting set one, they added “King Baby” into “Halloween Face.”

Set two was a relatively standard rush of originals, including a helping of fan favorites that kept spirits high well into the night’s encore, which included the first take on the NRBQ released “Help Me Somebody” since Feb. 27, 2020. The pre-pandemic play emerged for the first time in 166 shows, and was eventually capped by the apt concert ender, BloodKin’s “End of the Show. The band’s second night set course with instrumental perfection on “The Take Out,” which kicked off “Driving Song” > “B of D” > “Driving Song” > “Porch Song.”

The band maintained a throughline that coursed all originals during the second half of Saturday night, before the evening’s encore, which commenced with The Jimi Hendrix Experience’s “Little Wing,” followed by Saturday’s final song, “Ain’t Life Grand.” While the band’s second night in Milwaukee did not include bust-outs, they revived the trend during their Sunday closer, effectively bookending nights one and three with returns.

Notably, Sunday’s gig soared with “Airplane,” sans the “Take Off Jam.” Later on, resuming the instrumental motif, the band pulled out the first “A of D” since March 3, 2023, ending an 84-show gap. They gave similar treatment to a cover of New Riders’ “Dirty Business,” playing through the choice cover for the first time since Dec. 31, 2023.

As the band’s time in Milwaukee dwindled, they carried through J.J. Cale’s “Ride Me High,” followed by the second set’s send-off, “Fishwater.” In recognition of a successful weekend, Panic delivered “Cosmic Confidante” and The Doors’ “Soul Kitchen” for the first time since Dec. 29, 2023, ending a 52-show gap, before delving into their final number “Postcard.”

After turning in three nights of songs in Milwaukee, Widespread Panic will take a few nights off ahead of their Halloween run at the Enmarket Arena in Savannah, Ga. Tickets remain on sale.

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