Hello everyone. I
hope you have survived winter (that needs to be said when you live this far
North) and are enjoying the emergence of spring. I haven’t written anything in
my It Was 20 Years Ago Today series because while it has been 20 years for a lot
of shows, not too many of them were super memorable. But boy is this one. This
one has got it all, strip clubs, bachelor parties, fashion, and Widespread
Panic. So without further ado, It Was 20 Years Ago Today, Widespread Panic,
Live at the Electric Factory, Philadelphia, PA 4/10/99.
My buddy, DJ, was
getting married at the end of April and wanted to do something for a bachelor party
but DID NOT want a party with strippers, drugs, and general debauchery. I
believe I came up with the idea of going to see Panic. DJ is a full blown
deadhead and had liked WSP more than Phish so this was perfect. Maybe 5 of us
were planning on attending.
A few of Dj’s
friends who lived in Philly were going too but they were not really into the
music scene. One of them, Mr X, also had
a very green thumb. Remember, this was back in 1999 and really dank bud was
hard to come by. Not like today, where one can get it delivered to one’s front
door. Oh you can’t do that in PA? That’s why I live in Vermont.
We had to meet up
with Mr. X before the show. We got to a friend’s place in Philly and waited…and
waited…and waited. Seriously, he was very late and anyone who knows me knows I
HATE getting to a show late. Evidently, Mr. X couldn’t decide what outfit to wear.
Like I said, not really into the music.
He finally
arrived and it was definitely worth the wait. But now we were late. I mean
really late. We got on I -76 and the traffic was terrible. Mr. X was driving
and decided the quickest way was to go the wrong way on an on ramp to get off
the Surekill ( I mean the Schuykill) expressway. While I wouldn’t recommend it,
it worked and we finally arrived at the Electric Factory.
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04/10/99
Electric Factory, Philadelphia, PA
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1: Let's Get Down To
Business, Pigeons, B of D > Rebirtha > Red Hot Mama > Diner >
Greta > Goin' Out West
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2: Arleen >
Hatfield, Flat Foot Flewzy > Jam > Driving Song > Big Wooly Mammoth
> Drums > Jam > Driving Song, Ain't Life Grand
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E: Pilgrims >
Fishwater
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You can stream it
here
Remember what I said about being late? We got there as Greta
was ending. I was so pissed. LGDTB is a song I really wanted to hear. I was
late for another WSP show in 1998, so I had missed the equivalent of an entire
set. The second set was really rocking so that eased the pain.
After the show,
Mr. X insisted that we go to a strip club. The first one we went to they denied
everyone entry except Jake. He had a shirt with a collar on it so that made him
worthy. So then we went to a really crappy place, right along I-76, We weren’t
in the door 5 minutes and Mr. X comes up and asks me to kick in some money for
a lap dance for DJ. I did but replied that DJ did not want anything to do with
strippers. I turn around and DJ is right in front of me asking “What did Mr. X
ask you?” DJ did behave and turn down the offered lap dance. Pretty sure Mr. X
took it.
I hope whatever
you did for your bachelor/bachelorette party was almost as much fun as we had
seeing the jamband titans of the South.
Dave Kemp
BA American Studies
PhD Rock and Roll
