Stagestruck

WIDESPREAD PANIC
@Savannah Civic Auditorium, Savannah, GA
April 24, 2001
Many moons ago, I was a pseudo-Deadhead. Before you start getting your tie-dyed soul into a wad...bear with me. Most of my friends had seen the Dead many times. I demurred. Dance local, think global.

Interior: Small club in Oxford, MS, circa 1987

A Deadhead cover band is playing the most psychedelic, tripped-out music this side of the Haight and any available booty is shaking worth their moneymaker.

The band is called Beanland, after the street the band members live on. Crunchy name, crunchier grooves. Imagine the Dead soaking up enough magnolia-laced atmosphere to put Faulkner to shame. Hippie rugs, drumspace and acid were plentiful.

JoJo Herman and George McConnell were pillars of Beanland. The former is now the keyboardist for Widespread Panic, the latter is now in Kudzu Kings. John is now Herman's preferred moniker, but JoJo seems more mischievous somehow. My friends and I wallowed in so much music history, from blues to bluegrass, listening to Beanland. JoJo was always facile with his style, slipping easily from a cover of "Dear Prudence" to "Truckin'." His new CD, Smiling Assassin, is luring me in. He collaborated with the North Mississippi All-Stars' Luther and Cody Dickinson and Paul "Crumpy" Edwards of Bloodkin, giving his songs the country-fried flavor that is oh-so-finger-snappin'-good. Try it, you'll like it.

Interior: Medium-sized arena, general admission, Tuesday, April 24th, 2001...14 years later

A Deadhead cover band...no, wait. This is Widespread Panic. I am a pseudo "Spread-Head," overdressed as usual but sweatin' my middle-aged butt off and saying "NO" to drugs. What has become of me? JoJo AKA John hasn't changed that much—the melodies he supplies for Widespread Panic flow and ebb like a tonic that swirls and unites all the disparate spirits. The Panic created one hell of a mood and there wasn't a dry body in the house. One of the kids on the floor was gripping a sign with "Gimme" emblazoned on the placard. He never gave up, and they played it during the second half of the concert. He held the sign up 'til the end. Spread-Heads have this quality: tenacity. One of my friends who LOVES Widespread Panic says, "You just have to be there. It is the Experience." Yeah, I was there.

Fade out... Blythe Christopher