Bluest Tape

Well, if you enjoy wandering conversations about nothing terribly impactful or relevant to your lives, then this is the episode for you! Jeff spends much of this short episode distracted by the brilliance of Ja Morant (47-8-8 in a playoff game!), and then asks Harvey the question of all questions about Goose and Joe Russo’s Almost Dead: “But, why do you like it?” Harvey provides a passionate enoug...

Our first show of 2022 (?!?) and we hit the ground running with a great interview with former Panic taper, guitar tech, and band member, Sam Holt, who shares with us some of his favorite moments from spring 1992, recalls some special moments from Mikey’s last full tour in spring 2002, what it was like to sit in with Jerry Joseph, and looks ahead with great excitement to three Sam Holt Band shows h...

Milwookie, Nolaween, and Living in the Past ------------------------------ This week, we recap four solid shows from the Riverside Theater in Milwaukee, an annual stop for the band and fast becoming a must-see run for all the Panic fans out there. Looking ahead, we wishcast a few covers for the upcoming Nolaween run at UNO Lakefront Arena, and, as we always do around this of year, wax poetic about...

Despite the best efforts of the rain to keep the party from happening, Mempho Festival 2021 was a grand time! Panic played two really great one set shows on Friday and Saturday, kicking off each show with a high energy opener, building even higher during the set, and sending us all home with big smiles. Billy Strings joined the boys for a killer four song sit in on Friday night, including a massiv...

It’s Mempho Time!  ------------------------------ The 2021 Mempho Festival is FINALLY here! What a couple of months since the last Panic shows - the Wilmington shows were epic, the Asheville shows serviceable, and then Napa and NYC got canceled, and JB got COVID. But, everyone is healthy and the fans are ready for the Memphis heat! Aside from the Panic, the festival lineup is pretty great, wi...

Harvey and Jeff recap the scorching hot Wilmington run and discuss the state of the US Olympic Team. Harvey is joined by The Penguin's Beau Gunn to recap how things went in Wilmington and discuss what the future might hold at Live Oak Bank Pavilion in downtown Wilmington. We also preview how the rest of 2021 looks for Panic, previews Jeff's attendance at a PHISH concert and Harvey's trip to Connec...

Harvey and Jeff are joined by Ted Rockwell to recap the (((wet))) Red Rocks Run. Then, we talk to Geoff Hanson from The Earth Will Swallow You and Beau Gunn from the Penguin in Wilmington, NC as we preview the upcoming three night run in Wilmington as Widespread Panic perform the first shows at the Live Oak Bank Pavillion at Riverfront Park in Wilmington, NC. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy...

Harvey and Jeff get the band back together for a in-depth Red Rocks + Tunes for Tots preview and lay down some not-so-hot takes and predictions for the shows ahead. Special guests Jay Strasberg and Ted Rockwell bring their love of Panic and their excitement for the weekend ahead to the pod, and preview the incredible vibe that awaits the 10,000+ fans headed to Colorado. And yes, to stay to th...

Good Lord, we certainly take our time between episodes, don’t we? Episode 112 features a massive spring 1996 recap and breakdown (with recs below), plus some Panic 3.0 news and tour dates, along with sound financial advice from Harvey. If you have listened to our pod before, spring 1996 holds a special place in our collective heart - take a listen to any of the shows and you will certainly see why...

“I’m From Texas, So I Didn’t Ski...I Watched Perry Mason” Sit n Ski, 25 Years Later JFC, can y’all believe - Sit n Ski was 25 YEARS AGO! A truly monumental event in the history of the band, it was really a pivot point for what the band would become in 1996 and the remainder of the Houser years. The tour started off with a unique format of solo performances by JB and Houser, new songs and covers, a...

We’ve Been a Long Time Gone My lands, we were gone a long time, weren’t we? Great to see you all again, everyone. Harvey and Jeff play a little catchup on life, Panic, politics, and such, and then sit down with Scott Whiddon, a Professor of Writing at Transylvania University in Lexington, who also happens to be a damn fine musician. On December 27, Scott will release his new single, “The Ballad of...

Jeff and Harvey discuss the return of the NFL (a few weeks late - time stands still in the quarantine). And then Sam Holt comes back to the podcast to play some scorching hot tunes and also discuss HOME TEAM and what it means. We also talk some more about Todd Nance and discuss his classic tune "Check Me Out (with a Cheeseburger). We would include a song list, but it's too damn long. Just know it'...

That High Hat Sam Holt joins to discuss Todd Nance Add the loss of Todd Nance to the list of terrible things that have happened in 2020. Jeff and Harvey knock off the rust and discuss how important Todd Nance was to the Widespread Panic sound. And then friend of the pod, Sam Holt, joins Harvey to talk some more about his friendship with Todd and then play some raging Jerry Joseph & Friends stu...

A Patchwork Quilt of a Life: Jerry @ 25 It is impossible to believe, but it has been 25 years since we lost Jerry Garcia on August 9, 1995. His life and music paved the way for bands like Panic; his passing may have meant even more, elevating them to bigger tours, bigger venues, and more notoriety as Deadheads looked and longed for a new home. In this episode, we reflect on Garcia’s legacy, what h...

The Natty Is Set My God, have we FINALLY reached The Natty? By God, we have! It is set. A consensus #1, all time show in 4/3/96 Huntsville, AL vs. the “People’s Champ,” 10/28/00 New Orleans, LA. A sensational standalone show on a sleepy Wednesday night in “The Rocket City” vs. a get-down Saturday night on Halloween weekend in “The Crescent City.” This matchup is really like choosing between your t...

A Fantabulous Final Four + An Interview with Marq Spusta We are super good at recording interviews - and episodes - weeks and/or months ago and dropping them on you all weeks and/or months later. You would think that during the pandemic we’d both have nothing to do but work and yell at people for not wearing masks, but that has not been the case. Life has been hectic, y’all! This week, Jeff and Ha...

The Elite 8 Unveiling + Jupiter Coyote Okay, we are down to the Elite 8 in our “A Panic Sweet 16 for the COVID-19” bracket to determine the “best” Panic show ever. We recap the results from the last matchups in the tourney and preview the monsters coming up, including the Battle for Alabama, Jeff’s best show ever vs. Harvey’s best show ever, NOLAWeen 2000 v Sit n Ski, and just maybe, quite possibl...

A Panic Sweet 16 for the COVID-19: The George McConnell and The Danny the Angry Sound Man Brackets Here’s the right side of the Widespread Panic Sweet 16 bracket, eight killer shows that, if you haven’t heard them or don’t know about them, why are you reading this and listening to us? You must not get any of our terrible jokes, or any of our snarky references to “Dark Day Program,” “Coach,” and “S...

A Panic Sweet 16 for the COVID-19 The Todd Nance Bracket As promised, here’s our Widespread Panic Sweet 16 bracket of what we and the band think are the “best” 16 shows in the band’s history (yes, we know, some of our choices are debatable, but take us to task on Twitter!). The 16 includes 11 shows officially released by the band and 5 at-large concerts from the years 1989 to 2001. We continue the...

A Panic Sweet 16 for the COVID-19 The T. Lavitz Bracket As promised, here’s our Widespread Panic Sweet 16 bracket of what we and the band think are the “best” 16 shows in the band’s history (yes, we know, some of our choices are debatable, but take us to task on Twitter!). The 16 includes 11 shows officially released by the band and 5 at-large concerts from the years 1989 to 2001. We get started o...

A Big Show for Unprecedented Times The Bluest Tape @ 100 Well, it took us almost three years, but we finally have made it to our 100th episode! Congrats to us and congrats to you all for sticking with us through all the talk about appliance repair, existential dread, whining about Kentucky basketball, Memphis-related conspiracy theories, and, perhaps most important, the pod’s evolution in how we t...

We Fancied Rat Patrol: Beacon Residency 2020 Episode #99 hits at a particularly harrowing time in the recent history of our nation. The NBA is on hiatus. March Madness will be played in arenas in front of moms, dads, ballboys, and janitors, and no one else. Tom Hanks - FREAKING TOM HANKS - has the damn virus. End times? Nope. Just 2020, the best year ever. Well, despite the darkness, at least we s...

Why Do We Even Exist? A Very Special, Existential Bluest Tape Yep, we ask this question and many more in this, our 98th episode of The Bluest Tape. What ostensibly began as an episode to discuss the recent Panic en la Playa Nueve turns into a discussion about washer/dryer repair and the very nature of this podcast that you are about to tune into. We go DEEP. But, we also talk about PELP, and anoth...

Everyone Gets A Second Chance 2020 Is Upon Us First time we’ve recorded in a while and so much has gone on, most notably, Panic concluding a strong three night run at the Fabulous Fox Theater in Atlanta over New Year’s. This episode, we recap the holidays, recap our illnesses, complain about football and basketball referees and the ridiculous amount of replays, and of course, end up talking about...

Nothing Lasts Forever in the Cold November Rain Montana, November 2000 We recorded this episode in the midst of a driving Memphis rain storm and a 25+ degree temperature drop on Veteran’s Day, so tipping our cap to the great W. Axl Rose and Stephanie Seymour seemed appropo. We dropped a new format for our Halloween 2019 recap and promptly cast it aside for a return to the old format. Sorry! This w...