Widespread Panic
04/26/02
Oak Mountain Amphitheater
Pelham, AL

Set 1:
1.) A of D -> (03:49.36)
2.) Cream Puff War -> (03:09.61)
3.) Fishwater (11:03.67)
4.) Walk On (07:48.45)
5.) Gradle (04:46.00)
6.) Travelin’ Light (07:07.47)
7.) Junior* -> (10:26.07)
8.) C. Brown** (10:02.13)
9.) The Take Out* -> (02:22.01)
10.) Porch Song* (03:37.26)

Set 2:
1.) Bowlegged Woman (08:57.46)
2.) Climb To Safety -> (05:48.29)
3.) Little Lilly -> (07:00.49)
4.) Werewolves of London -> (06:03.06)
5.) Imitation Leather Shoes (05:25.58)
6.) Space Wrangler -> (08:20.59)
7.) Vacation -> (12:56.10)
8.) Drums*** -> (17:25.40)
1.) Jam**** -> (06:22.38)
2.) I Walk On Guilded Splinters**** -> (10:28.29)
3.) Me And The Devil Blues***** (09:36.58)
4.) Give* (05:59.73)

Encore:
5.) Can’t Find My Way Home (05:04.47)
6.) Sometimes (04:37.11)

* with John Keane on guitar
** with John Keane on pedal steel
*** with Dr. Arvin Scott on percussion
**** with Dr. Arvin Scott on percussion, Robert Randolph on pedal steel
***** with Dr. Arvin Scott on percussion, John Keane on guitar, Robert Randolph on pedal steel
[‘Werewolves of London’ played during a full moon;
‘Night People’ rap during ‘Fishwater’;
‘You Better Run’ rap by JoJo during ‘Junior’;
‘Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)’ rap by JB during ‘Bowlegged Woman’;
Robert Randolph & the Family Band opened;
Last ‘Werewolves of London’ – 06/01/96, 591 shows]

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AUDIO SOURCE:
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{Neumann AK50+LC3+KM100 (XY) -> Oade M148} +
{Neumann AK30+LC3+KM100 (split 2′) -> Oade M148} ->
Soundcraft Spirit Notepad 4-Channel Mixer -> mod SBM1
Recorded By Mike Falcon & Ben Morrison
Digitally Remastered and Transfered to CD BY Doug Oade

Photo by Kenji Sone

Thirteen years later I still listen and remember and Im still amazed at what went down at Oak Mountain Amphitheater in 2002. That spring tour was a quick, close to home, 10 day, 8 show tour that was obviously manufactured as a farewell for their friend and our favorite guitarist. it was a chance for him to rip it up with his friends eight more times and vice versa. And as a fan, a chance for us to say thank you for everything.

All the stars aligned for the last three shows to take place in Pelham, Alabama too, a band/fan favorite venue. That stage was rocking as much as that bridge connecting the two lots outside. The fuzz was thick in the lots but when you made it to the right side of those turnstiles what took place is nothing short of pure Panic magic and now Panic lore.

I personally am mentally incapable of living through a late April without jamming these shows and emotionally reflecting on these three nights. Maybe it was the song choice in sync with the moon phase on Saturday night. Maybe it was those Saturday night encores where they sincerely seemed to ask for help as we were all looking for a brand new day and a brand new way to help. And JB in his lowest voice adding some Amazing Grace lyrics at the end. I mean swing low sweet chariots low voice. The next song you could hardly hear the band over the crowd as he somehow got the words out about meeting a friend, playing guitar, dreaming of being stars and playing all night in DBD.

Sunday…wow. By all accounts our Last Dance with Panic as we knew them. Maybe it was the lighting show in the distance to accompany Cortez. One thing was evident, from the first song to the after show house music, it seemed that the mission of the band was clear- to get down to business, to stop playing games, to quit with the lame pretense and tackle that which shackled us all of the pressing business. The business of the band, the business of their friendship, the business of allowing the fans in on it, and the business of life and death and honoring a man with an incurable disease. They more than tackled it.They officially communicated to us what was going down that night the best way they knew how, through their music. The song choices, the way the lights hit Houser, switching up the lyrics in Postcard to reflect the unfortunate circumstance. It was a Houser showcase.

This show was our official press release finally confirming the rumors. It was the epitome of conflicted emotions, the best of times and the worst of times. How could we feel so blessed to have been a part of it and not want to be anywhere else on the planet that night yet hope like hell something like this would never ever happen again?

JB said later, ” “Hey, it’s not just a great night; this could be… you know… this could be… the last great night….and he was really on,” speaking of Houser. Then he didnt hear him for a minute in ALG, assuming Houser was choked up. I dont think sweat was the only wetness dripping from his face onto his Fender Tele that night, and during ALG too. How could he not choke up? How did all of them not choke up?
JB may as well have said before the love song, Genesis, “this ones for Mike.”Maybe it was JB fully turning his head and shoulders to sing these words directly to Houser, “and now I’m feeling you inside, our heart is rolling with the tide, I hope it feels like an open ride, so let me stay with you!” Thats when about 10,000 of us facing the stage choked up. They came out into day and our skys of blue had turned to gray. But I think we were very clear to say to the band that night that we never looked away and never will.

Music and emotion are synonyms, whether it’s who is playing the music or the emotions the music invokes in the listener. And nobody expresses emotion like Widespread Panic. Its the one show I can simply think about the lyrics, his solos, and our reactions to his solos and no matter what I’m doing I get full on chills and an all arm hair salute. Its the show where the crowd noise at those key moments is just as chilling as the music. Maybe it was his solo right before the “powdered sugar in her hair…touch of a halo” Diner rap. Maybe it was the Trouble, Down, Postcard encore where the love flowed through everyone there. I think it was every freakin solo he did that night that was so smokin and emphatic as he climbed the neck of that guitar higher and higher and bent those strings like nobody else can- sending us into a state of pulsating bliss and soul shakin life each time.

A couple of months later a show ended in Iowa and he went home after probably giving his bashful wave and head nod to the crowd again. Only five short weeks after that he went on to live the Moon Times. That timeline shows me what his friends on stage, what they accomplished each show, and what we all meant to Michael Houser.

People pose the question, was your first show life changing? My second show changed it in a way where I knew that I’d be chasing shows in my free time for as long as they tour and making free time to chase shows. But it was 3 shows in late April 2002, sometime after my centennial mark, that TRULY changed my life. It was what they did and how they did it and how they let us be part of it. This was the run that shattered my perceptions of what a band/fan relationship is. It showed me what is possible through art. It gave me the consciousness that whatever life throws you, including the death of loved ones, that you can persevere. It showed me how you can face adversity with courage, composure and dignity. It was so much bigger than the music and the scene.

Im not sure why I feel the need to remind. If you were there you need no reminder. I think its that after all these years and as hard as I shook my bones and yelled and clapped it just never seems like it was enough compared to what he brought us. So I try to honor him in some way every January 6, August 10, and of course April 26-28. I feel like I owe that and so much more.

These shows were where the word family took on new meaning for me with the fanbase and it became familial with WP as well because of the way they let it play out for us.

Whether your first show was 25 years ago or last year, if you want to get lost in a run of kickass music with more emotion than you can stand, think of the circumstances and listen again to April 2002 at Oak Mountain. Get chills once more on this anniversary.

We miss you and thank you Mikey:)

Drew Davis
Widespread Panic Fan

Scan by Frederick Scott Phillips