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A Jam Band in an Arena, Cognizant of Geography
By JON PARELES

Published: November 3, 2003


n an improbable punk-rock tribute, Widespread Panic knocked out three
Ramones songs at Madison Square Garden on Friday, its first of two nights
there. No matter that the Ramones' pithy songs arose as a reaction to the
kind of leisurely jamming that has made Widespread Panic a touring
phenomenon since the mid-1980's. As it claimed its arena-size audience in
New York, Widespread Panic played New York rock: the Ramones' "Pet
Sematary," "Beat on the Brat" and "I Wanna Be Sedated," Lou Reed's "Vicious"
and Talking Heads' "Life During Wartime." John Bell, the band's lead singer
and rhythm guitarist, was costumed for Halloween as the Statue of Liberty.

Geography means a lot to Widespread Panic. On Friday night, songs mentioned
Saratoga, Los Angeles, Vicksburg, Macon, Mexico, New York and more, as well
as the endless road. Yet Widespread Panic is proudly rooted in the South.
It's a Georgia band, and it has strong connections to the blues and Southern
rock, starting with Mr. Bell's bluesy moan of a voice.

Where jam bands like the Grateful Dead and Phish seek an airborne intricacy,
Widespread Panic stays down to earth, with a hefty beat and jams that rarely
leave behind clear musical landmarks. While some songs revel in psychedelic
paradoxes, Widespread Panic also sings about drinking, gambling and
hell-raising. It shares a streak of anti-elitist resentment with Southern
rockers from Lynyrd Skynyrd to Tom Petty. A song that drew sing-alongs,
"North," told an estranged girlfriend, "You think that I'm stupid, I think
that I'm cool."

Widespread Panic didn't strain to be cool or up to date. Its musical heart
is in the 1970's, with plenty of the Allman Brothers Band (also from
Georgia) and a dollop of Little Feat. The band steamed through two CD-length
sets and an encore; songs from its current album, "Ball" (Sanctuary),
mingled with longtime favorites like "Chilly Water" and "Coconut." Blues
vamps segued easily into funk or minor-key rockers suggesting Southern
grunge, and in the second set, songs like "Monstrosity" and "Pigeons" opened
out into exploratory jams.

Widespread Panic's founding lead guitarist, Michael Houser, died in 2002 and
was replaced by George McConnell, who often peals out steady eighth notes in
the style Dickey Betts brought to the Allmans. John Hermann switched off
among meaty Hammond organ chords, florid barrelhouse piano and chattering
clavinet funk. During the jams, Dave Schools, on bass, often followed
through on cascading guitar lines, carrying them down to a nimble lower
register. Todd Nance on drums and Domingo Ortiz on percussion provided
transitions. The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, which opened the concert, returned
as a horn section for more 1970's songs: "Love Is the Drug" and "The Time
Warp."

In the encores, frustration gave way to hope: Talking Heads' peaceable "City
of Dreams" and the band's own "Ain't Life Grand." For the moment, Widespread
Panic's Southern stubbornness ceded to the eternal optimism of a jam band.