Widespread Panic Resurrect Covers of The Meters and Pops Staples in St. Augustine

Widespread Panic, photo by Dino Perrucci

Widespread Panic returned to St. Augustine, Fla. over the weekend for a highly anticipated residency at the St. Augustine Amphitheater. Back at their longtime favorite stage in the Sunshine State, the iconic Southern jam outfit, featuring guitarist Nick Johnson filling in for Jimmy Herring, tore through three stellar showcases of their catalog, highlighted by a few rare covers and proper bust-outs.

Widespread Panic lit into their series on Friday night with their thoroughly honed spin on Tom Waits’ Bone Machine cut “Goin’ Out West,” then carried on into a rapid-fire cycle of “Surprise Valley,” “Pleas” and “One Arm Steve.” The remainder of the band’s kickoff show stuck close to expectations with a solid mix of originals like the first frame punctuating “Space Wrangler” and a second set that stitched together favorites including “Rebirtha,” “Party at Your Mama’s House,” “All Time Low,” “Chilly Water” and a cover of Howlin’ Wolf’s electric blues standard “Smokestack Lightning.” An encore of 2026’s first “May Your Glass Be Filled” provided a blissful primer for night two.

Once again demonstrating the depth of their repertoire, Widespread Panic launched their second night in St. Augustine with take on Jerry Joseph’s Little Women track “Chainsaw City,” one among many borrowed songs that have become more closely associated with the group than the originators. Shortly afterwards, the set took an unexpectedly funky turn as the band resurrected The Meters’ classic “Just Kissed My Baby”; The Rejuvenation standout was a frequent flyer in their live shows from 1991 to the early 2000s, and Saturday’s rendition arrived as its first staging since May 2016, a whopping 345 shows ago. Further surprises through the evening included the year’s first staging of Talking Heads’ “City of Dreams,” preceding an encore of “Vacation” and “Postcard.”

Last night, Widespread Panic capped off their weekend run with a grand finale, beginning with the essential “Holden Oversoul” and covers of Bloodkin’s “Can’t Get High” and J.J. Cale’s “Travelin’ Light.” At the end of an exhilarating evening that also included versions of the David Bromberg Band’s “Sharon” and Dylan Earle Johnson’s “Time Is Free,” the band brought on their encore with a return to Pops Staples’ gospel triumph “Hope in a Hopeless World,” which they hadn’t played since New Years Eve of 2023, followed by a last blast of Talking Heads’ “Life During Wartime.”

Widespread Panic will perform next with a two-night run at Birmingham, Ala.’s Coca-Cola Amphitheater on April 17 and 18. Find tickets and their full tour itinerary at widespreadpanic.com.

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