By: David Schultz

Taking their cue from The Grateful Dead, Southern rockers Widespread Panic have turned themselves into a concert performance machine that thrives on the experience of their live shows. Entering their third decade together, Panic has cemented their status as one of the cornerstones of the jamband touring scene. One of the original participants of the mid-Nineties H.O.R.D.E. Festivals, they also headlined Bonnaroo when it was just a cute little hippie festival in Manchester, Tennessee. Hitless in the mainstream, the prospect of selling out large halls has never given Panic reason to panic. For their recent New York run, they played two sold-out weekend shows at the cavernous Radio City Music Hall.

Even if they aren't the most heralded band to emerge from Athens, Georgia, Widespread Panic have remained truer to their roots. In 2002, guitarist Michael Houser succumbed to pancreatic cancer and the band faced a crossroads. After a short hiatus to regroup, longtime friend and collaborator George McConnell filled in as the new guitarist. Ultimately though, McConnell wasn't the right fit and amicably left the band. Without missing a step, Jimmy Herring formerly of the Aquarium Rescue Unit and a burgeoning guitar industry of his own, joined the band. Herring has now been with the band for about a year and if their recent New York stint is any indicator, Panic is once again hitting their stride.

A sonic Southern assault, Panic’s heavy sound, which rumbles and purrs like a finely tuned automobile, grabs you from the first notes. Seamlessly moving from spacey interludes to southern-blues tinged boogies, Panic gets their distinct sound from their keyboard and rhythm section. The gargantuan Dave Schools plays a deft but lightly ponderous bass, never weighing down the mix. When not providing crunchy or bouncy keyboard leads, John Hermann nicely skates along the surface underscoring many of Panic’s songs with nice melodies. In conjunction with percussionist Domingo “Sunny” Ortiz, who missed the weekend’s shows due to a death in the family, drummer Todd Nance gives the songs an off-kilter syncopation, working various flutters and rolls under the mix.

At Radio City, Hermann, Schools and Nance provided much space for Herring and lead signer and guitarist John Bell to work their guitars and go in different directions. In line with the music, Bell’s inimitable wailing yowl varied in intensity throughout the night. At times, Herring’s magisterial guitar solos stood apart and a bit disconnected from the general flow of the music but for the most part Herring has wonderfully melded with Panic, already seeming as if he’s played with them for quite some time.

Panic’s Saturday night set list provided many treats without unearthing any shocking rarities. Bouncing around to tunes from all time periods of their career, they worked their second set around “Chilly Water,” one of their oldest songs, returning to it while they moved through other songs and jams. After playing without a percussionist on Friday night, Wally Ingram filled in for the majority of Saturday night’s show, nicely working with Nance and Schools on the intro to “Fishwater.” At the conclusion of their briskly paced pair of sets, Panic kicked off a three song encore with their cover of Cleveland’s Michael Stanley Band’s “Let’s Get The Show On The Road” sliding it into “Rock” before careening into a scorching version of “Flat Foot Floozy” to close the night.

Widespread Panic are in a period of their career where they are very comfortable in what they are doing on stage. Extremely confident in their playing, the hunger that fuels bands many years their junior seems to be missing. Panic no longer has anything to prove and, as a consequence, don’t seem to be stretching the boundaries of their music or pushing their abilities to their limits. This isn't to say they aren't playing with passion or failing to give an audience what they came for, they just seem to be playing well within their comfort zone.