Bluest Tape

The Irrelevant Four 2018 College Football Preview Last year, we did the expected, giving you a top four for the College Football Playoff, and added to it with special guest Mark Schlabach. This year, with the help of the Phil Steele (we discuss if he is, in fact, a real person) college football preview magazine and Wikipedia, we highlight four (highly irrelevant) bowl games and choose four great s...

Out of the Left Field A Year of Unexpected Jams All due credit to faithful listener of the pod Chad Coates for suggesting the theme for this week’s episode. Way back in November, Chad sent us a list of “unexpected jams,” extended versions of songs or super long “>” buried in a setlist that, on paper, might look a little sleepy. Chad picked some sure fire winners for us from the year 2000 - he has...

This week we bring part two of our conversation with Panic fan/taper/guitar tech/guitarist Sam Holt, who shares additional stories from his time with the band and lets us in on what he’s been up since parting with the band. Check out a sublime “Heaven” from the encore on August 5, 2006, followed by an excellent run of songs from August 10, 2006 featuring a couple of “OTPs” (Only Time Played) - a S...

Lagniappe #5 We’re taking a brief respite from the Sam Holt Chronicles to give you a taste of one of the better shows from the Travelin Light Tour of Summer 1998. The tour featured some inspired playing, some interesting setlist experimentation, and a ton of special guests almost every night. This one, from Jackson, Mississippi has all of those things in spades and is a particular favorite of ours...

The Holt Chronicles, Part 1 Many thanks to our very special guest this week, SAM HOLT. That’s right, the guy that has lived the dream of so many Panic fans - fan, taper, guitar tech, MEMBER OF THE BAND. Sam jumped on the bus back in 1989 and has never left it. He is to thank for a pile of tapes of the early days of Panic - some stories of which he shares with us - and heavily documented the classi...

Lagniappe #4 Celebrating a silver anniversary We’re taking a break from our regular programming this week. But this week’s lagniappe is a little different. Harvey goes solo this week and celebrates the 25th anniversary of his very first show, back when he was just a young buck. A 1993 HORDE show from the Municipal Auditorium in New Orleans, Louisiana. This show is not in circulation digitally, so...

Jeff (Actually) Hearts Panic v3.0 A Very Special Episode of The Bluest Tape This week, we recap the weekend that was at Mud Island in Memphis, TN. Jeff and Harvey had both planned on attending the shows and giving you the hard-hitting, accurate analysis that you all have grown to love over the past year, but alas, it was not to be. Jeff, however, did go to the show on Friday night, and, SURPRISE,...

“We’ve Been Having An Exquisite Time!” Random Show Closers Well, after the success of our “Random Openers” show we decided to run it back (sort of) with “Random Closers.” We debate the differences between 1st set closers, 2nd closers, and encores, recall some of our favorite closers from days of yore, and share the (somewhat) famous story of the Deer Creek 2001 show where a pre-show storm turned t...

Way Out West First Leg of Summer 2001 June 2001 was a big month for Widespread Panic. They released their final studio album with Michael Houser, Don’t Tell the Band , and embarked on a mighty fine summer tour starting way out west in California. This week, we talk about the first handful of shows from this tour, with stops in San Diego, LA, and a return to Paolo Soleri in Santa Fe. Tune in for th...

Setting the Tone Random Panic Openers We have all had that moment at a Widespread Panic - when the lights come down, the crowd noise goes up, and in your head, your mind is spinning with the thought of “What are the boys gonna kick it off with tonight?” Sometimes, the band will start it off nice and slow and ease the crowd into the night; other times, they will just smack you in the face with a 2...

More Sandwiches! Travelin' Light Tour 1998 We've done a lot of celebrating the 20th anniversary of things recently: the historic 10 night Paris run; the release of Panic's first official live album, Light Fuse Get Away; and the record-breaking Panic in the Streets. So it only makes sense that we move on to the 20th anniversary of Panic's big summer tour in 1998, the "Travelin' Light" Tour - Panic'...

First Variations Classic Panic Songs Get a Facelift So, once you get past Harvey’s condescension and, frankly, outright hostility towards Jeff for not “understanding” this week’s theme, this is pretty damn fine episode of The Bluest Tape. We tackle “first variations” of classic songs, including lengthy versions of “Airplane,” “Tallboy,” and “Wondering,” and also slow “Porch Song,” diving deep, esp...

A Low Country Boil: Panic Does Charleston Harvey’s back from sabbatical and the band is back together for our 58th episode - can you believe it? This week, we take a trip down to Charleston, SC for some Low Country Panic. The band has been playing there for nigh on 30 years, and delivering some classic performances over the years. We touch on a great, cover-heavy, early show from 1988; a great SBD...

Lagniappe #4: A Tasty Treat from Spring 1998 We’re taking a little break from our usual programming this week. We hope you like this little taste from the spring 1998 tour closer in Iowa City, IA. Jeff even mentions going camping again! Links below go to whole show streams from Panicstream. 03 May 1998 - Iowa City, IA - Hubbard Park, University of Iowa Diner > Driving Song > Fishwater > Driving So...

Lagniappe #2: A Tasty Treat from Fall 1999 We’re taking a little break from our usual programming this week. We hope you this little taste of Widespread Panic from Fall Tour 1999 and a quick little story about Jeff’s 1996 Pontiac Grand Am. Links below go to whole show streams from Panicstream. 24 October 1999 - Milwaukee, WI - Eagles Ballroom Fishwater, C. Brown, B of D > Pigeons > Me & the De...

20 years ago, on April 18, 1998, Widespread Panic played a free record release release party to approximately 100,000 fans on the streets of their hometown Athens, Georgia. There were a lot of challenges to pulling something like this off, but with that band in that place at that time , it almost seemed meant to be. Coming off of a European tour which saw the band playing in some of the smallest v...

Light Fuse, Get Away: Vol. 2, Disc One 20 years later - A Modern Mix, Vol. 2 This week we present Volume Two of our tribute to the 20th anniversary of Panic’s first - and greatest - live album, “Light Fuse, Get Away.” Last week, we created a first set; this week, we go with a second set that could have been played during spring/summer of 1997. Same rules apply: all SBDs and no repeats. Sure, it mi...

Light Fuse, Get Away: Vol. 2, Disc One 20 years later - A Modern Mix, Vol. 1 Pretty impossible to believe, but Widespread Panic’s first live album, “Light Fuse, Get Away” dropped twenty years ago this month. A true watershed in the band’s career, the album highlights the excellent Spring and Summer Tours of 1997. To celebrate this anniversary, we take a crack at putting together a Volume Two of “L...

Paris 98: The Chesterfield Chronicles, Volume 2 Widespread Panique in Paris 1998 Well, here we go, the final five shows from the epic ten show run from the Chesterfield Cafe. The boys brought the heat the first five nights, took a couple days off (Eiffel Tower? Louvre?), got all wound up again, and closed the run out with a bang. We get things rolling with a stellar “Impossible” on March 24, follo...

The Chesterfield Chronicles, Volume 1 Widespread Panique in Paris 1998 Twenty years ago this month, Widespread Panic embarked on their first Transatlantic journey, landing in Paris for a what has become a legendary ten show run. Playing in front of a crowd that was at least 80-90% American each night out, the band rolled through classics, rarely played favorites, and took some serious setlist risk...

The Golden Anniversary Bracketology Spectacular! FIFTY episodes, y’all! That’s FIFTY! Wow, we made it through almost a year of this crazy show and we’re ready to celebrate with our picks for the 2018 NCAA Tournament. Our picks coincide with some hot selections from Panic’s catalog. Harvey took the South and West brackets, choosing his beloved Kentucky Wildcats and the Xavier Musketeers, respective...

We’re Kind of Like Archaeologists! Whatever Happened To…??? Songs come and go - not everything can be around for 1,100-plus versions, like “Porch Song” and “Chilly Water.” Some of these songs make you wish they were still in the mix, and others make sense as to why they went away. Tonight, after some serious digging around the archive, we give you a mix of the two. This week, we start out with “Su...

The Return of the Alyrical Miracles An Instrumental Ethos, Volume 2 Hard to believe that it has been almost a year since we dropped our first episode highlighting Widespread Panic’s vast catalog of instrumentals. We run it back this week by revisiting a few of our favorite shows (6/7/98 and 10/27/00), visit a smoker from fall 1996 (of which there are many), a wildly underrated show from 1999, and...

It’s A New Day Panic en la Playa 2018, A Conversation with Curtis George, and Breaking News! Well, we did it. It only took 47 episodes and well over 100 hours of Widespread Panic to FINALLY play something recorded after July 2, 2002. To usher in this new era for The Bluest Tape, we invite Mr. Curtis George, the creator and overseer of Panicstream.com, the essential online streaming source not just...

“Love,” Panic-Style Happy Valentine’s Day! Young Lovers! You are in luck tonight as your friends here at The Bluest Tape have provided you with the perfect soundtrack for Valentine’s Day 2018. We have the set for you - a tender love song or two (including the 2nd greatest love song as delivered by a Filipino Elvis Tribute Artist!), a not-so tender love song or two, and some songs about, well, the...