Greetings everyone. Hope you are
doing fine on this last weekend of winter. This installment might be
a little early but I just can't wait to get it down on paper. It is
without a doubt my all time favorite Widespread Panic show. Tunes,
people, setting, this one had it all. So without further ado, It Was
20 Years Ago Today : Widespread Panic, Live at Tussey Mountain,
Boalsburg, PA, April 21st, 1996.
I had graduated from Penn State
the previous spring but was still in touch with my friends up there.
These were the same friends that turned me on to Panic in the first
place. I had also seen Panic enough and had enough tapes that I knew
their repitoire pretty well. My buddy Adam was really tight with the
band. According to my hazy memory, I think he even lobbied them to
play Penn State while he was there. Boalsburg was right outside State
College so that was close enough.
| 04/21/96 Tussey Mountain Amphitheater, Boalsburg, PA |
| 1: Disco > C. Brown, Heroes > Impossible > Rock, Wondering > Sleeping Man, Goin' Out West, Space Wrangler > Red Beans |
| 2: Rebirtha > Porch Song > The Take Out > Tall Boy > Driving Song > Hope In A Hopeless World > Driving Song > Breathing Slow > Mercy > Nobody's Fault But Mine > Walk On > Chilly Water |
| E: Vacation > Get Up Early In The Morning |
You can stream it here
The “venue” was on the side of
the mountain, right at the base. All of Happy Valley was spread out
before us. Without a doubt, second best view for a show I have ever
attended after the great and mighty Red Rocks itself. The weather was
spectacular as well. Sunny, comfortable temps. All welcome because it
snowed a few times in April when I attended school there. It was
rather sparsely attended but the boys still put on a hell of a show.
Disco is my favorite Panic tune
and to open with it was brilliant. Everything in the first set was
high energy. Space Wrangler exploded into Red Beans and we were all
chomping at the bit for the second set. Porch Song> The Take Out>
Tall Boy> Driving Song might be my all time 4 Panic songs in a
row. The only Tall Boy to eclipse that was at Bonnaroo 2002 with
Dootie Peoples and the People's Choir. The Nobody's fault was really
sweet because the Dead covered it back in the day and that was a nice
nod to them. I didn't know either of the encore tunes but it was
enough for my short ride back to Hanover after one last hurrah at
Penn State.
I had another Panic show the
following week at Gettysburg College but that is for another blog
post. I hope your bracket is doing better than mine.
Dave Kemp
BA American Studies
PhD Rock and Roll
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