For the first time in eight years, Widespread Panic returned to Birmingham, Ala. The Southern-bred band’s much-anticipated regional comeback arrived in a two-fold at the Coca-Cola Amphitheater, beginning on Friday, April 17, with a relatively standard delivery, before the ensuing evening, Saturday, April 18, presented a bag of surprises. The group’s later performance was delayed by the weather, which stalled the show’s first half—for the throng that stuck around the night yielded a deep cut: the first cover of War’s “Low Rider” since Nov. 4, 2009. Watch a fan-shot video below.
Before severe weather was even a considerable factor, Widespread Panic took the stage on Friday night. They began their time in Birmingham with an instrumental highlight, “The Take Out,” ahead of “Radio Child.” In a thoughtful move, the band followed up on the Bombs & Butterflies cut with another lyricless favorite, “Machine.” Rather than receive applause on the other end of the aforementioned number, they strung on “Barstools and Dreamers.”
With time remaining in the first set, the band moved in and out of “Goodpeople,” with “Dark Bar” serving as the mid-section. They played through Snake Oil King’s “Little by Little” before the last song of the frame presented itself as “Blackout Blues.”…