Saturday night, antes doubled, and Widespread Panic didn’t flinch. As the road-hardened vets continued the process of recontextualizing their material with Nick Johnson filling in for recuperating guitar wizard Jimmy Herring, Johnson continued to cash in on at the high-stakes table of The Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas.
Dave Schools eased into an opening “Wondering” before John Bell pulled an early ace from his sleeve: a cover of Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth”. Johnson anchored ensuing originals “Little by Little” and “Blue Carousel” with hot-handed solos. JB and keyboardist JoJo Hermann collaborated on a call-and-response section (“Love and joy”) to close the latter tune, which was born from an unfinished Michael Houser melody.
Without coming up for air, the band pushed into the percussive pulse of “Rock”, giving JB his first chance of the night to showcase his slide guitar skills. Schools broke the silence with fIREHOSE’s “Sometimes” (“But now April’s turning to May”) for the first time since last year’s Atlantic City finale. “That was a fIREHOSE tune that we used to listen to in the van,” JB quipped when the tune was finished.
Slowing it down, JB belted out “Gimme” while strumming steadily amidst JoJo’s resonating organ. Like a gambler doubling down at the blackjack table, a much needed “Jack” dealt a winning hand to the desperate souls in attendance, who were able to “Climb to Safety” (Jerry Joseph & Glenn Esparza) and before set break—in no small part due to the electrifying interplay between JoJo and Nick.
Breaking the silence of set break, Widespread Panic cracked the back half of the night with “Tall Boy” but soon settled into an extended instrumental jam, “Happy”. Once again, Johnson effortlessly weaved streams of notes between JoJo’s swirling organ. As JoJo shifted over to piano, percussionist Sunny Ortiz’s wind chimes heralded the arrival of “Driving Song” like headlights through the front window.
Widespread Panic – “Tall Boy” – 5/9/26
[Video: justanotherhoarder]
The tempo accelerated toward breakneck speed until eventually dissolving into the ebb and flow of “Pilgrims”. The meandering pace quickened with every successive breath as Nick his output in kind. Returning home, Panic carved back through the familiar roads of “Driving Song” to complete the jam sandwich.
Duane Trucks and Sunny Ortiz traded blows during a lengthy Drums” barrage next before settling into “Ribs and Whiskey”. In the intro, JB’s slide melded with JoJo’s organ to layer in a unique flavor before a spicy Nick Johnson solo blessed this bonafide burner.
The party moved smoothly from there into a Hound Dog Taylor-inspired “Gimme Back My Wig” rap, then on into Robert Johnson’s “Stop Breaking Down” as a belated birthday tribute to the Delta bluesman. (“Shoulda’ stopped long ago / You ain’t getting none of that tonight!”)
Recalibrating old songs with new launch angles, Panic landed an “Up All Night” jam in unexplored territory. Nick Johnson carried the momentum surge as John Bell and JoJo shared vocals during “All Time Low” to close the second set.
Widespread Panic – “All Time Low” – 5/9/26
[Video: justanotherhoarder]
With time for one more draw, the band flipped over Bloodkin’s “End of the Show”. JB introduced the lone encore tune with his mandolin in hand: “We will leave you with just a little something, a little soft something. If you listen to the words, it’s really not that soft.”
Widespread Panic – “End of the Show” (Bloodkin) – 5/9/26
[Video: justanotherhoarder]
Two nights down, one show remains—and it just so happens to be the safest bet in Sin City: a Widespread Panic Sunday show. Don’t bet anything that you cannot afford to lose, but scared money never wins… Good luck out there, GoodPeople.
Setlist [via HomeTeam.FM]: Widespread Panic | The Theater At The Virgin Hotel | Las Vegas, NV | 5/9/26
Set One: Wondering, For What It’s Worth, Little By Little, Blue Carousel > Rock, Sometimes, Gimme, Jack > Climb To Safety (65 mins)
Set Two: Tall Boy, Happy, Driving Song > Pilgrims > Driving Song > Drums > Ribs and Whiskey > Stop Breakin’ Down Blues, Up All Night, All Time Low (84 mins)
Encore: End of the Show* (5 mins)
Notes: * w/ JB on mandolin; Entire show with Nick Johnson on guitar in place of Jimmy Herring.