Boston Night 2 Recap (8/22/25)
Listen to the entire show on Nugs or Relisten or Archive.org.
Data mined and explored via Everyday Companion.
Ahhh the familiar rumbles to the Widespread Panic tuning…. The crowd was prepared for another wicked good time. Duane’s cymbals started the evening off, with Dave’s bass coming in strong. Were we prepared for an Arleen opener? Just a few of us were, most had their jaws on the ground. There was a question about the DJ-sounding scratching at the beginning and end of this song. We had to call in an expert, and learned that it was Sunny on a rarely used electric drum called a harpsonic. We got a nice little “good morning little school girl” out of JB at the beginning - the themes in both songs are quite similar. The song is rarely seen in the first set, let alone a show opener. It’s been played 185 times in the second set, third set, or encore, and only 52 times in the first set or only set (noted as 0 in Everyday Companion). That’s only a 21.9% first-set placement for this song that’s over 16 and under 31. It has only opened a show six total times:
10/09/96
04/11/03
04/22/05
12/29/07
05/03/08
06/12/11
JB was feeling “happy” a lot as he noted that what he saw was making him happy. After learning about how the rich would live and the poor would die IF life was a thing that money could buy, JB gave us some extraordinary rapping (6:14) - “A knife, a fork, a bottle, and a cork, that’s the way you spell New York. And, c’mon Jim. A knife, a fork, a bottle, and a cork, that’s the way you spell New York.” These are lyrics from Cocaine in My Brain by Dillinger, which was released in 1976 (thank you, Nugs reviewer, JDubs for the tip!). During Jimmy’s shredding, JB added some background ground and moans. Such a peak! JB looked through the window and what did he see? “A girl who’s got a beat on me” and “a little girl who barely got a beat on me” to which Dave replied, “release those files!” and “let ‘em out!” Needless to say, this was some top notch ad-libbing from Mr. John Farmer Bell and night 2 was officially formidably kicked off - hot damn!
Right at the end of Arleen, Dave’s bass strummed the familiar notes to Little Lilly. A great rendition, Jimmy really made this one soar. A clean segue brought us to the familiar story of Henry Parsons. Again with the consistency! For this particular version, JB was 22.5 hours off singing about Hank’s death at exactly 8:30 pm on a Friday, rather than 6 pm on Saturday as the lyrics note. Since the WATLO HQ office was constructed, this is the third Henry Parsons played (Red Rocks and Asheville being the other two). The band has been between 21.63 and 22.5 hours off. That’s pretty remarkable! We’re excited to continue clocking future Henry Parson’s death times and dates.
The band fully stopped and then Aunt Avis began. A Vic Chesnutt original. Your trusty WATLO staffers would highly recommend watching the behind the scenes making of the music video of this song (Part 1 & Part 2). This was the second time played in 2025 (first time was 6/5 in Chicago). An absolutely incredible song about summoning your ancestors to help you continue on with life. It’s such a classic Vic song about life, death, and all the struggles in between.
Most of the band stopped, which gave JB enough time to swap his guitar out. Jojo’s keys and Sunny’s maracas kept on playing which got us all questioning whether or not we were in a fighting mood. Such a crowd pleaser - this Greta seemed slightly slowed down, which gave each band member plenty of time and opportunity to growl, howl, and play all the notes. There were some mighty fine howls emanating from the crowd as well. Let’s go Dawgs!
The song had a fizzle at the end, which got the band a carrot, as we swayed and grooved to Gimme. One of their earliest original songs, it was only officially released on Light Fuse Get Away, a live album, never released as a studio recording. It debuted on 11/19/88 and this was the 197th time played. From the lyrics section on Everyday, nerds can learn a little something: “Little song history here: Gimme is written in Houser's wife's voice (her point of view). Barbette's nickname is Tuesday, hence the allusions to the day. At first, the lyrics were "Gimme your hand there Johnny", but JB wasn't going to say his own name there, so they switched it to Michael. And yes it is called Gimme, straight from Houser's maximary orifice.” When Mikey played our lingering lead, it was performed 119 times, then after his passing shelved for 256 shows until it was brought back on 11/06/05. This was the 74th time played with Jimmy as The Panic’s guitarman. A beautiful version, which gave the crowd a chance to catch our breath and remember Mikey and his undying love for his wife. I’m not crying, you’re crying!
Jack was next - another beloved tune with lyrical depth. Somewhat about a poker hand and somewhat about a tale as old as time… a lazy king who doesn’t even notice when his wife goes off to sleep with Jack, his knights turn rusty, and his dog turns his loyalty to our hero of the story. At this point in the show, heads began to pick up a name theme with every song having a name in the title except Gimme, yet lyrically mentioned Michael and Larry. Coincidence? Regardless of some sort of theme the band may be dropping on Beantown, they CRUSHED this version of Jack - true heart and soul laid out on the line.
A very brief stop, before Jimmy’s blues guitar kicked off Smokestack Lightning. JB’s coons, howls, and sultry voice made all the underwear at the MGM Music Hall WET - men and women alike. This was the second cover of the evening (Arleen was the first - originally recorded by General Echo in the 70’s). Smokestack is a traditional blues song, first recorded by Howlin’ Wolf in 1956 in Chicago. In 1956 it reached number 11 in the Billboard R&B chart! Hearing OUR favorite band put a polished shine of mastery on such a noteworthy song, made us feel incredibly special and lucky. More Smokestack fun facts… Widespread Panic first debuted the cover on 4/5/86 but then shelved it after the 2/7/91 show. After 1,537 shows (😲) they brought it back on 6/29/05 in Missoula, MT. Welp… there went our name theme, easy come, easy go!
Such a great build up and peak at the end seamlessly started Action Man. What a better location to place our bets than a venue named MGM! JB’s echos were phenomenal! After celebrating Man o’ War’s triple crown win, the first set was wrapped, no words, no acknowledgement. A seasoned head informed us that may have been the longest first set in modern history, at least since the Pandemic, clocking in at 73 minutes, most are under 70.
Little Kin kicked off the second set. Dave’s backup vocals were top notch, almost as dirty as his thumping bassline. The song fully ended and then Duane and Sunny brought us to the Diner. One of their most adored songs, the crowd was turnt up ready for their bowl full of lightning, and then seconds and thirds. Dave started thumping the familiar Diner jam notes (reminiscent of the James Bond theme) at 5:36 and Jimmy’s guitar was transcendent. Every member was really getting after it. At around 7:33, Jimmy was out for blood, which fired the entire band up! The mid-song jam was incredible, they often “sit” on songs when everyone is really feeling it, and this version is no exception. I mean…. Over 17-minutes in the Diner! LFG! Everyone was ready for a cool down in anticipation of the rap (8:42):
“Hanging in the diner, sitting in the light of Miss Lee. She opened up early, help a poor hungry boy out. Ohhhh, she said, ‘oh c’mon, c’mon, c’mon in. I got here a little early I couldn’t sleep.’ I know I got kicked off my bench a little early this morning too by your bad, bad boyfriend. A little sunshine, ooooh just peaking through the fence. Straight through the window, scratching my coffee cup, keep it waaaaarm, little loooooonger. Awwwwww. Poor boy dream in his coffee. Watch his cream swirl. Ohhh. Like clouds, tapping in. Oh, imagination, intuition, ooooooooh. Just hanging in the light, baskin’ in her light. Oooooh, she beautiful. Cooking in the diner today. Won’t show no bother every now she get covered in blue. Sooooooaaaaahhhhhhh, baaaaaskin’ in her light. Just a little taste. Ahhhhhhh, the light! Hanging in the light. Shine, shine, shine ohhhhh, sit real still. Hanging in the light. Awwwww Miss Lee. Oh, Miss Lee.”
When JB finished his rap, the band came out ripping! Schools’ bassline was driving the entire machine and a really epic groove was had by all. The interplay between Schools and Duane was severely exceptional. We love our rhythm section!!! Damn, Jimmy! He played ALL the notes. This ended up being the longest song of the evening (17:21) and arguably the best jam.
Jimmy changed guitars right at the end of Diner, which led to a lot of anticipation as to what the next song would be. Dave teased the familiar bass line in Goin’ Out West early on (end of Diner), but once he really got going all the heads were frothing at the mouth. Originally released by Tom Waits in 1992, Panic absolutely went full send on this rendition. When JB ferociously screamed “drive all night pick up speed” the entire crowd got extra amped up. He channels Tom so well. Schools provided superb backup vocals as he kept harping “appreciate me” - believe us, we all appreciate the hell out of you, Schools! At 6:10 Schools started singing “Little brown sausages lying in the sand. It’s like rainbow gerbil to the opposite field, [inaudible mumbles] four fortyone” Despite eliciting the help of several interns, those mumbles cannot be deciphered. And, we’re not quite sure what the reference is to the rainbow or 441 - please get in touch with WATLO HQ if you have any clues (WATLOpodcast@gmail.com). The song ended with some rumbles and then Dave’s bass came a-BLAZING with TYS!!!!
LFG!!!! We absolutely love this one - simple reminders to stay present, be grateful, and don’t take anything for granted!!! Everybody tore into this one like Ralphie unwrapping his Red Ryder BB gun on Christmas morning - a superb showing by all six players. A true dance rager was had by all. Right before JB warned us all to “Love your girl, now, love your girl. Wake up now, no one else gonna jump up and love your girl." We were blessed with a ghoulish scream from Schools (5:00). The Bass mountain was very frisky and loquacious all weekend, we highly approve! The jam cooled down a bit and flowed flawlessly into Bust it Big! Our first one since Jojo’s injury!
Perhaps another nod to the gambling nature of the name MGM? Speaking of Mexico… we hear there are still rooms for sale at Playa? Who’s riding it down to Mexico with your WATLO staffers and interns? We promise, we aren’t paid by Cloud 9 to promote this event….Yet. The Sunny breakdown is always superb, and this one is no exception. Go Sunny, go!! Jojo led the way to an epic build up and total peak-out moment before screaming “Rosemary’s baby is a NYC kid!” Boston is as close as they’ll play to NYC (if you only consider announced runs, and not rumors…) The band members left the stage for a breather and Duane and Sunny treated us to Drums! Panic’s most-played song, if you count it as a song - do you?
Duane and Sunny nearly destroyed their skins (and blocks) - a wicked pissah version of drums indeed. Dave was the first back on stage and then fellow bandmates followed suit. Some eerie guitar strums and an epic space bass effect launched us into Saint Ex. This was the 6th time played in 2025, and according to our records it was Duane’s 82nd time slaying the number. Jojo’s organ came in heavy and hard. Check out the recap from night 3 in Asheville to learn more about the story behind the song. The end was heavy and heady, as it normally is.
The band stopped and DAS started Climb to Safety, which was a bit of a shift as usually Duane carries us into the Jerry Joseph song. Dave was rearing to go and didn’t want to wait for Duane to catch his breath after completely annihilating Saint Ex. We love and encourage these change-ups to the start of songs - keeping things interesting and different can be difficult after all these years, just ask our married friends. Climb to Safety was officially released four times. First, by the Reverend Jerry Joseph in 1993 on ‘The Welcome Hungers’ - then Panic released it three times in 1999 (Til the Medicine Takes), 2002 (Live in the Classic City), and 2012 (Wood). Grab all the townies you can find in Beantown, look them in the eye and tell them “I promise you’ll be dry - never be aloooooone!” C2S wrapped up set 2, the boys left without a word.
The same seasoned head who clued us into the extra long first set also reported that the second set contained fewer songs than typical - only 8 when it’s usually around 10.
For What It’s Worth (FWIW) is a great encore song! It was written by Stephen Stills and originally released as a single by Buffalo Springfield in 1966. Here’s a live version from 1967. A song about paying attention and protesting for what you believe is right. “Nobody’s right if everybody’s wrong” is a sentiment we can all get behind. It’s amazing when a song that’s 59 years old can still be so relevant and timely. Maybe it’s time we actually start to stop, look and see what’s going down. Similarly to Smokestack from the first set, this song has a long gap in our band’s history. First debuted on ??/??/85 (ha! Gotta love the mystery…) it was played ten total times before being shelved after the 11/17/88 show. Then, after 2,314 shows (😲whaaaaaat?) it was brought back on 2/10/11 when they opened with it at the Classic Center in Athens, GA to celebrate their 25th anniversary tour. @goin2cjb_ is an excellent Instagram account with a lot of concert footage, mostly of JB, duh! And they recently posted a video from this c-c-c-c-c-comeback version. Find it HERE.
Love Tractor took us all the way home - and it was glorious! What an incredible way to end the show. Dave’s “c’mon, baby, c’mon” gave us ALL the feels - we learned them alright. This was the 89th time the song was played in the encore and the 79th time a show closed with the crowd and band trying to remember where all the levers are. Needless to say, it’s a comfortable position in the show and one the boys absolutely crushed!
With that, the show was wrapped - not a single word addressed the crowd the ENTIRE night, music only. A real pissah show!