Though the first two nights were great each in their own ways, I would have to say the third night was my favorite. Bloodkin opened this night. Bloodkin is certainly one of the most familiar and old musical relatives of Panic. Without Bloodkin, WSP would certainly not be the same band it is now. Disappointingly, Bloodkin’s set was cut a little short with threatening weather coming. It was bad enough that the band stopped and the entire crowd was forced to leave the venue and seek shelter. We all piled out and waited hesitantly to what lay ahead. Sure enough the clouds changed direction, and things were safe enough to bring us all back in and get Panic out for their first set.
The band came out dressed for cold weather, with JB dawning a jacket and hat. They quickly broke into a booty shakin’ ‘Diner’. Some songs that made this night my favorite also included the Band’s ‘Ophelia’ paired with my new favorite cover ‘Shape I’m In.’ Jojo treated us to a fun version of ‘One by One’ and Dave showed us that he was still the master of the bass with ‘Stop n Go’. Sure enough my curiosity about a solo playing of ‘Protein Drink’ was answered with it being played and seguing into ‘Rock’. I believe this was the first time ‘Protein Drink’ had been played by itself without segueing into ‘Sewing Machine’. ‘Rock’ closed out the first set and got us ready for what I thought was the greatest set I had seen in the nine shows I’ve seen this summer.
With the crowd still at full energy, even after three days of crazy weather, dancing and partying, their roar brought the band out for its final set. Panic opened up with the old favorite ‘Glory’ followed by ‘Space Wrangler’ and its tremendous ending jam into the second appearance of Jojo’s new song, ‘On this Mountainside.’ The first big moment of the set came when JB introduced the Bloodkin boys to come out for two of their songs ‘Success Yourself’ and ‘Wet Trombone Blues’ with both JB and Danny Hutchins trading verses. I had just been treated to this in the spring but there was something a little more special about these versions. As the Bloodkin duo left the stage my favorite moment came with one of the greatest song “sandwiches” I have seen in nearly 200 WSP shows. The elusive ‘Low Spark of High heeled Boys’ finally reared its head after great fan anticipation. The first verse segued into the first verse of the appropriate ‘Surprise Valley’ that had the crowd literally kissing “the Mountain Air We Breathe.” This segued into the highly anticipated ‘Arleen’, which at this point had the crowd in an absolute frenzy! ‘Arleen’ drifted into a short ‘drums’, which brought us back into the second half of ‘Surprise Valley’ and back into the 2nd half of ‘Low Spark’ to complete the sandwich. I could have walked away completely content and satisfied at this point. However, the band proceeded to close out the set with a crowd sing along version of ‘Tall Boy.’
At this point, the crowd was all smiles and couldn’t expect anything greater, yet there was still an encore to be had. I can’t tell you the last time I heard ‘She Caught the Katy’ or tell you when and if it had been in the encore spot before. Sure enough the band came out and treated us to the Taj Mahal favorite. Just when things couldn’t get any better, the thundering opening notes to ‘Last Dance’ started and a wonderful rendition of this song capped off what was one of, if not the most memorable weekends of the summer.
07/06/13 Grand Targhee Resort Amphitheater, Alta, WY
1: Diner > Ribs And Whiskey, Ophelia > The Shape I’m In, 1 × 1, Stop-Go, Give, Casa Del Grillo, St. Louis, Protein Drink > Rock
2: Glory, Space Wrangler, On This Mountain Side, Success Yourself, Wet Trombone Blues*, Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys > Surprise Valley > Arleen > Drums > Surprise Valley > Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys, Tall Boy*
E: She Caught The Katy, Last Dance
*with Daniel Hutchens on guitar/vocals, Eric Carter on guitar
Full setlists provided courtesy of EverydayCompanion.com
All photos taken by William McAlaine
As always I dedicate this piece to my Mother, Kathy McAlaine. You will always be my inspiration. RIP. XOXO
No Comments comments associated with this post