Boston Night 1 Recap (8/21/25)
Listen to the entire show on Nugs or Relisten or Archive.org.
Data mined and explored via Everyday Companion.
All the Townies pahked their cars, devoted touring spread heads waited patiently for their airplanes, everyone had enjoyed their fresh brews from Dunks, and the Panics took the stage in Beantown for the first time in over 10 years. The last show in Boston was on 6/17/15.
JB greeted the crowd, “Good evening, ladies and gentleman.” Jimmy kicked off One Arm Steve. The 312th time the song has been played, most recently during their last run in Asheville. This was the 28th time the Boys opened with it, and it was FIRE. Guns were a-blazing in the Cradle of Liberty. Jojo’s extra, “what’s going onnnnnn?” moans at the end gave a glimpse into an incredible run to come!
The familiar introduction to Pleas followed. A timely reminder to enjoy all of life’s ups and downs - they all contribute to the beautiful human experience we are all enduring. Right as the song wrapped up, DAS launched us into Bowlegged. What a third song placement. They weren’t messing around. Bowlegged Woman, Knock-Kneed Man was originally released in 1972 by Bobby Rush in two parts (Part 1 & Part 2). It was first played by the best band in our land on 2/2/87 and has been in the “regular” rotation ever since. Since Jimmy joined the band, the longest LTP gap for the song was on 9/6/15 with an 89 show gap. Since then, we’re blessed to drop it low and enjoy this dirty, filthy cover every 4-16 shows, thanks to a knock kneed and/or bowlegged God/dess! Keep those Bowlegged’s comin’ pleas and thank you! One of the sexiest songs in their catalog, everyone was getting down, looking at their honey in anticipation of making those poor sleepers cry at the Best Western after the show. Each band member was feeling this one, but JB really let it all out, a perfect croon for Mr. Soul himself. The cry from Dave at the end brought about the perfect bow tie to wrap up this perfect cover song.
The song concluded, and Duane, Sunny, and Dave led us into Bears Gone Fishing. Another tune that kept all fans low to the ground swaying side-to-side as we searched to mingle with single mermaids, mermen and/or mertheys. Fun fact - this song was originally an instrumental, debuted on 7/1/97 with lyrics added on 6/26/99, which had the longest show gap BY FAR (105). Since then, it’s been in the rotation quite regularly, with 23 shows being the longest LTP gap. Another one we are lucky to get often! JB’s echoey “ahhhhhs” were impeccable. Baby’s a freak show, indeed! The jam really took off right in the middle of the song, Jimmy was completely untethered, and the rhythm section (Dave, Sunny, and Duane) were absolutely throwing it DOWN. Complete annihilation. Boston was already aflame in frame one of six! Yes indeed!
The song had its usual fizzles, and Jojo’s organ gave away the next number, Shut Up and Drive. An eye-witness WATLO reporter told us that at this point she looked at her friend and said “this is a sexy set! Bowlegged, Bears, and Shut up and drive!” Damn straight - keep those derriers on the ground - everyone busted out their hawwwtest dance moves and the run was getting steamy. The jamming around minute 6 was explosive, everyone was ready to burst open! Even JB was in the mix - all six cylinders absolutely crushing it!
Right as the song concluded, the entire band strolled into Tall Boy! The sexy theme continued!! Shed that skin, get naked, sling a little mud, summon the holy ghost, ooooooeeeeeee! Sleepers gonna cry and then some! Go on and get you some, boys and girls! At about 5:30 Jimmy played allllll the notes and then the band had to cool it down a bit, his strings almost caught fire!
Speaking of fire… Duane rolled us right into Cease Fire. This is a new song, written by all the members of the band you see on the stage today. Modern classic panic is always enjoyable. Go Home Team! Released in 2015 (which is still a decade ago, but “new” by Panic standards) on Street Dogs, the lyrics are a plea to stop the hatred, anger, and to put the proverbial fire out. Our culture is unfortunately inundated by greed, blame, and pain. We have the power to turn it around, to remember the times we used to laugh and dance, and to change the state of the world we live in. We are just angry little elves after all. So, let’s listen to our preacher man and spread wide the joy, love, gratitude, and bliss we deserve. Jettison our own unnecessary baggage and process all the feelings, then, let’s preach it to the choir! They each played this one with so much soul and emotion. It was the perfect tempo, and didn’t feel rushed at all.
The song stopped and quickly the band shifted gears into Fixin’ To Die! Most fans remember our dearly beloved Colonel Bruce Hampton (Rise in Power: 4/30/1947-5/1/2017) with this number; however, it was originally released by Bob Dylan in 1962. During Jimmy’s first run with the band as the new lead guitarist, they played this uptempo ditty on night two with the Colonel himself on vocals (9/15/06). Since then, it’s a relatively regularly played song other than three noticeable longer gaps:
53 show gap: 4/22/16
84 show gap: 3/31/19
44 show gap: 7/16/21
67 show gap: 4/24/25 (Nashville which was the LTP for this show)
Jimmy shredded the hell out of this one with Aquarium Rescue Unit vibes, and JB was definitely channeling the Colonel’s vocals. “Mama, mama, mama” plus the hawkish cry at the end - oooooooh, damn - shivers down the spine! JB for president and vice president!
The way the song concluded seemed like that could have ended the first set, but unexpectedly Dave lunged us into Imitation Leather Shoes, an absolute rager! According to an eye-witness report the pit got down the hardest during this one! It’s hard not to let it all out, limbs soaring everywhere, head banging galore - go on and get you some! Written by Widespread Panic, released in 2001 on Don’t Tell The Band, it’s the epitome of their Southern Rock Goth vibes - creepy, shredding, and oh, so delectable. Interestingly, since its debut on 4/2/00 the longest show gap was just recently on 4/24/25 in Nashville at 26 shows. This one slayed, as they all do, and the band exited the stage for setbreak without a word to the crowd. We all needed a walk after that scorcher of a set! No words necessary.
Lo and Behold, we got a second set opener of Knocking Around the Zoo, and compared to Thursday afternoon spent in the Uber stuck in Boston traffic, we were in a way better space by Thursday night. Most recently played at this year’s Red Rocks run on a Saturday night, you can do a deep dive in the 6/28/25 WATLO recap. Some nerds may want an updated “day of the week” pie chart, so here you go:
The song kicked off with a traditional bass driven intro and some strong help from Sir James Herring to get things going. Listen in at 5:40 when JB enthusiastically calls out “everybody!” and indeed everybody in the band starts to really get after it. Schools seemed especially frisky on this number. After some soulful guitar moans from JB, the band got a bit more quiet and DAS called for “Pocahontas to peel me a grape” as well as enthusiastically repeating the word “idenifaniquity” a couple times. Our interns could not figure out what this word means, but we now use this word often around the office at HQ. If you know what this word means, please email us at the HQ (watlopodcast@gmail.com). Dave then reminded us that he would “never misbehave” and that “It’s all good baby”. Better than good, Dave. Much better.
Next up was a super greasy and dirty intro to our favorite chicken song, Contentment Blues; always so tasty. This was a standard stock original recipe version which is to say it melted faces and coated palates in its own very special way. Clocking in at the largest LTP gap of the entire evening at 31 shows (4/16/24 - Playa). This was pure Panic!! Central anthem for any lover of fried chicken, although no one loves chicken as much as JB does. Hats off to you, sir. The other Colonel (Sanders) has nothing on you.
Jimmy’s flawless guitar work along with some reassuring piano led us into a very new song, Small Town. We here at Watlow HQ are particularly fond of the central character named Lucky in this song and support him even if he’s not the best driver in town. We love a good crime spree, yet believe that stopping at green lights can be dangerous. As much of the Panic fan base hails from small towns, undoubtedly the story and lyrics of this song hit home when your place of origin is a wee map dot. Jimmy played this like a new pop song and sounded very sharp and composed. JB’s vocals were on point and then it all dropped into a bit of freeform at about 4:30. Approximately two minutes of fine improvisation set us up for a top shelf segue into another new song: Tacklebox Hero. This was easily the best ever segue in between these two particular new songs. With this being only the 6th time ever Small Town was played, it was also the first time it was followed by Tacklebox Hero. Here’s a list of the other times played, with the song that followed, PLUS a graph (NERDS!) indicating the population of each town it’s been played in. Surprisingly, Boston is not the largest town Small Town was played in, that was Nashville!
6/23/24: Little By Little
4/24/25: Imitation Leather Shoes
5/17/25: Running Down a Dream
6/27/25: Disco
7/26/25: Blight
8/21/25: Tacklebox Hero
The honed chemistry and tremendous musicianship required to do this time and time again is impressive. This is one of the myriad reasons we travel across the country and stay at Best Westerns in both small and large towns for this band.
Tacklebox hero was a perfect song for Jojo to highlight his vocals and his philosophies. While we love our chicken at WATLO headquarters, we also enjoy having some fresh catch for dinner as well. We actually would much rather catch and clean a fish than chase and defeather a chicken, just saying. Again at about 4:30 the band cut loose into an improvisational vibe, holding court with these new songs. Each version was an opportunity to grow, change and mold it into a new friend that starts to feel like an old friend but not as old as we are, not even close. Herring stepped up with some instant classic leads here, cementing his status as the man who recorded these new songs and the man who plays guitar for the best band in the land. The boys brought the boat into dock, soft as a feather touching down on a field of cotton. What a gorgeous two song number, hopefully we didn’t all go to the bathroom during these new ones. These songs deserve love and we at HQ do love them.
Jojo’s haunted house keyboards told us all it was time for an old school classic with You Got Yours. This Panic standard was written by the 1997 lineup and released that year on the Bombs and Butterflies album. This was the 266th live performance of YGY and it debuted on 9/16/95 in Salem, VA. That particular ‘95 show also held a song that has been retired since the Houser era, Raise the Roof. Worth a listen. Rise in Power Mikey, we love you. A good friend of mine once told me the opening riff of YGY would be his chosen entrance music if he was ever an MMA fighter. Great choice, Patch! Love you, buddy. At about 5:30 Señor Herring set his guitar to maximum shred and demonstrated how he fully retains a mastery of the super classics. Overall a well-rounded version of this song with great placement in the middle of the second set.
After a full stop and a moment to catch their breath while the GOAT came onto stage, the audience cheered and whistled and gulped beer. JB had an important announcement. “ We’d like to bring up a good friend of ours visiting his family here today and visiting our family here today: Mr. Chuck Leavell”. Game on.
Jojo sent the funk while Chuck laid down the back bone of the classic JJ Cale cover, Ride Me High. What a great way to start this song. Little did we know this was about to be a 17 minute version and take us places never before visited. The first two minutes of the song were all about Jojo and Chuck getting in tempo with each other and hearing each other. Next, Jimmy and Duane turned up the volume and poured more gas on the fire. Around 6:25 things cooled back down and began to go into a looser, more eloquent and delicate jam. Chuck was doing what he does on the piano: so smooth, so listenable, so dang Chuck! We love you buddy. Things got weird and in a good way around the 10 minute mark, folks looking at each other, maybe even a few asking: “Is this still the same song?” (Thank you for those that came to support your loved ones at this show.) After about 3 1/2 minutes of unbridled weirdness taking us into dissonant Col Bruce and Jerry Garcia approved zones, Jojo gave the organ funk signal to bring it back around. It took another minute or so to work out the wiggles and then right about 15:00 the proverbial rip cord was pulled and we came back into what JJ Cale would recognize as his solid gold classic, RMH. The final minute of this epic and unique version was reserved for exploring a bit more of the ether before gently gravitating back to earth. Great job, fellas.
Next up was Ain’t Life Grand. This was the second of two songs Chuck would play on, perhaps he had dinner reservations with the family and couldn’t sit in for more than that. JB added “hey buddy, what’s your job” and also flipped up the lyric to “driving to the liquor store, threw my money out, passing by the liquor store, threw my money down”. All that chicken makes a man thirsty and who needs groceries when you got a bucket of fried beside you? A few more little tweaks to lyrics here and there from Master Bell and a conclusion to Ain’t Life Grand and Chuck left the stage.
A Neil Young cover was next that has a very special meaning for the memory of Mikey; Don't Be Denied. Fun fact, Neil was also playing nearby in Gilford, NH this same evening, but did not play this heart-wrenching tune. You can check out his setlist HERE. Neil released the song on his album Time Fades Away in 1973. (here’s a live version from ‘74) Panic first started playing the tune on 6/1/87. They played it on 8/18/02, very shortly after Mikey’s death (8/10/02) and JB repeated the third verse. Such a tear jerker - I’m sure many of us remember that incredibly emotional and somber show at Fiddler’s Green (AKA America’s worst venue). After that version they took a bit of a break (75 shows) before playing it again, which has been the longest LTP gap to date. It was a lullaby worthy version with such tender guitar work from Jimmy and excellent vocals from JB. This song could have easily been written specifically about the origin story of Widespread Panic during those fateful times when Mikey and JB met at UGA (GO DAWGS!) and dreamt about being cool. The image of young JB and Mikey staying up all night if the price was right is something special to believe in. A story worth telling over and over again. At around 4:00 Jojo enters the conversation with some idyllic and emotional organ sounds. Nary a dry eye in the house.
The sentimental sounds and messages of DbD faded away and then the dramatic political overtones of Jojo‘s piano introduced our next song, King Baby. A brand new number, this was just the 19th time it has been put on display live (albeit every single run in 2025 so far). Salt and fat and chicken bones are the diet of choice for those in control, some call this a warning song. Regardless of your political outlook, (WATLO HQ is located in Switzerland) this song has strong imagery and some sort of message coming from the band. Interpretation is wide open (read the 7/25/25 King Baby recap for more details about this). We don’t do politics here at WATLO although we are starting a religion soon, stay tuned!
We got to witness another professional and well executed transition between King Baby and Chilly Water, the band was doing a great job listening to each other and the fans were listening as well. The very familiar first track from the first album had the family reaching for their water vessels, anticipating the chilliest of cool water. Several hundred members of the audience still had enough liquid H20 left in their flasks to send a couple showers out onto the unsuspecting chompers next-door. WATLO PSA: Stay hydrated and keep your water bottles full. We want to send a shout out to all venues that allow us to bring our Nalgenes in to help make sure the Chilly Water is a wet one, and to make sure we don’t die. We also want to give thanks to the social media account @freethechillywater which posts venue rules about water bottles before each run! Thank you, heads!! The vocal tradeoffs between Schools and JB were so awesome! It was a very spirited, high energy version of CW and ended the set, reminding us that the classics still feel new and awesome when they want them to.
There was only time for one song in the encore. Dave added a comment that “It’s been way too long, Boston”, and JB had something cute to say about how they “Have one more joke!” Alas, the boys made that joke count and ripped into a searing version of the Talking Heads banger, Life during wartime. Released in 1979 - who doesn’t think of the well-known live performance from Stop Making Sense where David Byrne takes a lap around the entire stage during the synth solo? Legendary. Our favorite band started playing it on 10/31/03 - we love when these cover songs first played during Halloween runs become part of the “regular” rotation. Since then, it’s never seen a huge LTP gap (average number since the debut is 13.4883). Of the 87 times played, it’s been in the encore 18 times (that’s 20.7% if you do the math - we did!). This was a good old fashioned frenzied dance melee to get those last moves out and gyrate accordingly before wrapping up night one and hitting the showers. A high energy finish to an excellent show. High fives!