This weekend I am going to be seeing one of my all time favorite bands at the Hayden Homes Ampitheater in Bend. I saw my first Widespread Panic show on November 13, 1994 at the Warfield in San Francisco. To this day, it remains the loudest concert I have every experienced. We had great seats that night, directly in front of the band and Panic became a staple in my musical life. Indeed, during the rest of the 90s, when Phish blew up, Panic was always my favorite. When Phish 3.0 began (in 2009) I started seeing more Phish shows and Panic sort of fell off. That was partly due to the sad fact that the original guitar player for Widespread died of pancreatic cancer in August 2002. The guitar never quite sounded the same after he passed on.

Nevertheless, Panic has a deep bench of great songs. They also have great taste in what they cover, as well. Furthermore, they are a jamband, which suits my tastes. That means every show is different and it means being a fan means you’re part of a community of fellow travelers that are in on the same esoteric references that you are. And everyone knows the main goal is to have a good time. Of course, Phish and Panic fandom also means you’re swimming in the larger Grateful Dead universe, which I am comfortable with.

These will only be the 3rd and 4th times I’ve seen these guys in the past 10 years, so I’m excited. Mid-July, outdoors in beautiful Bend will be quite the scene. The band has a new guitar player at the moment (their 4th all together) and I really like the way he sounds. I’m planning on seeing some old high school friends, too.

There’s another song playing, and we can hear it in the wind outside

YouTube Video