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On August 22nd, 2009 I make a snap decision to drive down to Canandaigua, New York to see The Allman Brothers Band. The reason it was a snap decision as opposed to a slam dunk was the double-bill with Widespread Panic. I love love love The Allman Brothers and will go out of my way to see them every time. Widespread Panic? Not so much.
It’s not that I don’t ‘get’ them, I totally see why they are a big part of the jam scene. They have all the elements: open-ended songwriting, extended improvisations and varied setlists. And most importantly they have that one common denominator that binds all jambands: the crowd.
It’s my opinion that the only true common ground between bands like MMW, Phish, The Allman Brothers, and Umphrees McGee is the crowd. While each of these bands (and so many others) share several stylistic idioms (many of which are also observed in the jazz world), their sound, their songwriting, their styles are all quite different to my ears. But look out into the crowds at any of their shows and you’ll see that same thousand-headed dread-y tie-dyed hippie-shaking beast, travelling from town to town talking about last night’s show and holding a finger in the air looking for a ticket for tonight, brah.
I love it and I’m a part of it. Brah.
But you can’t win them all and I don’t with Widespread Panic – I just don’t care for the gravelly vocals, and the songwriting doesn’t grab me at all. Maybe I’m just not Southern enough, Canadian as I am.
But m’lady wanted to go to the show; in fact she was going. She had a pair of tickets and was prepared to drive down-and-back by herself and sell her extra in the lot. My parents were visiting from Moncton – they had their motor home parked in our neighbour’s driveway – and when I debriefed them on the situation the three of us agreed that I should go with her, so I did.
At the show Derek Trucks and Warren Haynes came out and jammed with WSP, both separately and together, so that was a bit of a treat, and of course I (almost) always, always love The Allman Brothers so overall it was a nice evening. I bought an excellent poster that still hangs framed on my wall today, I was happy to run into a friend from Ottawa with a packed bowl halfway through the show, and we safely made the drive back to Ottawa right after the music ended.
That wasn’t my first Widespread Panic show and given the circumstances of my festival habits it probably won’t be my last. I’m still not a fan but I’m still very open to being won over.
Todd Man Out 