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.”
The latter half of night one saw Widespread Panic retake the stage and cut into “Contentment Blues,” ahead of “Diner” > “Love Tractor.” Maintaining a similar formula, the group played a standalone “Visiting Day,” followed by another pairing, this time brute.’s “Blight” > “You Got Yours.” The method emerged once more, this time as “We Walk Each Other Home,” followed by a nonstop run of “Up All Night” > J.J. Cale’s “Ride Me High” > Jerry Joseph’s “Climb To Safety.”
For the show’s encore, they tied on “Down” before conjuring Neil Young’s Buffalo Springfield contribution, “Mr. Soul.”
Widespread Panic’s second night at the Coca-Cola Amphitheater began with “Tall Boy” > “Henry Parsons Died,” before fan favorite “Walkin’ (For Your Love).” After turning in “Shut Up And Drive,” the group worked on “Tie Your Shoes” but only made it partway before weather concerns caused a 53-minute delay. Retaking the stage after the pause, the band restarted the “Tie Your Shoes Jam.”
The effects of “Tie Your Shoes” merged into the first “Sleepy Monkey” since March 23, 2024, ending a 62-show gap in plays. Seemingly, the prior move was a warm-up for what was to come. After “Big Wooly Mammoth,” they reverted to 1975’s chart topper, with a beloved take on War’s “Low Rider,” for the first time since Nov. 4, 2009.
The aforementioned cover was trailed by “Pigeons.” Given that set one was cut short, Saturday’s second set proved to be supersized with an epic series served as “Let’s Get The Show On The Road” > “Pleas” > “Hatfield” > “Impossible” > “I Walk On Guilded Splinters” > “Free Somehow.” After receiving kudos for that batch of music, they closed out the second set with “Halloween Face.”
Widespread Panic’s final Birmingham encore hit the 36-minute marker. It was made up of “Bowlegged Woman” > “Chilly Water” followed by “Disco” > “Red Hot Mama,” and ultimately “Porch Song,” which, with the weekend’s starter “The Take Out,” threaded a proper Space Wrangler throughline.