I Widespread Panic sono la tipica band fuori tempo massimo, che non hanno velleità da star, la presunzione di imporsi al grande pubblico, ma le quali hanno certamente le capacità di crearsi il loro buon zoccolo d'uro di fans sparso per il mondo grazie a degli ottimi album dal sapore retrò. In poche parole tutto arrosto e niente fumo.
La forza trascinante di questo live è la jam continua. Una continuità coinvolgente la quale sembra rendere il disco una traccia unica, in cui la jam viene portata all'esasperazione. La band suona compatta nel vero senso della parola, potente e precisa, e la sezione fiati della storica Dirty Dozen Brass Band la supporta con energia, colore e vigore. Si parte con "Fishwater", pezzo che ricorda i fasti jammosi più ispirati della Allman Brothers Band. La voce graffiata da navigato cantante R&B di John Bell, più la Dirty Dozen la quale spruzza il pezzo - così come tutto il disco del resto - con fiatate tipiche del R&B e del Funky, riescono a dare al pezzo delle connotazioni ricche di calde sfumatore, arricchendo magicamente il groove ritmico craato dal resto della band con uno stuolo di percussionisti al seguito. La seconda traccia è" Superstition", il grande classico di Stevie Wonder coverizzato anche da Stevie Ray Vaughan e Jeff Beck. Riuscitissima, impossibile stare fermi. Credo non sia un caso la collocazione di "Superstition" come seconda traccia, perchè riesce magistralmente tenere il filo del discorso, a fare da collante, così da creare un ponte per il reprise di "Fishwater" che arriverà poco dopo in tutta la sua libertà finale. Al quarto posto troviamo la fantastica "Christmas Katie", una ballata al piccolo trotto molto coinvolgente, in cui vengono riversati tanti suoni e colori tipici degli States: dal Soul di New Orleans al Funky tipico della Motown, con i tromboni impegnati in un accattivante accompagnamento marziale tipico delle bande amaricane e delle vecchie orchestrine; mentre il tutto sfocia rapidamente in un'accellerata successiva in cui la chitarra del povero Michael Houser, morto nel 2002, parte con uno strabiliante solo energico. Un suono stupendo, a metà tra Dickey Betts e Carlos Santana, caldo e pastoso.
Altro giro altra corsa: "Beehive Jam" riesce a mettere sul piatto una jam di partenza, mischiarla a territori psichedelici e latin, per poi adagiarla in un letto onirico... Una vera esperienza sonora. "Big Chief" di Earl King, grazie al piano di John Hermann, ripesca un sound molto smooth e molto intrigante, con il supporto sempre della fidata Dirty Dozen, ora con qualche colpo di tromba, ora con quale colpo di sax, ora tutti insieme. "Drums" parla da sè, un lungo solo in cui Todd Nance e la corte dei percussionisti si lasciano andara ad una ritmica ormai consolidata. "Weight of the World" è figlia del disco, stesso discorso: un mood Funky a cui è impossibile resistere. "I Walk On Guilded Splinters" è un roccioso R&B di Dr. John incastonato in questo splendido disco. "Coconut" e "Arleen" sono la sintesi del disco: sembra come se passassero i titoli di coda in cui, parlando sopra di essi, la band comincia a ringraziare gli ascoltatori per il viaggio condiviso.
Un live che è la sintesi perfetta di un certo Southern Rock Jam della prima ora ma portato per mano, dopo tanto girovagare, alle soglie del nuovo millennio (è del 2000), quindi un live fuori dal tempo. Alla lunga potrebbe stancare, data la ossessività ritmica tipica delle jam band, ma le sfumature della band e della Dirty Dozen sapranno ben fronteggiare questo rischio.
Elenco tracce e testi
01 Fishwater (05:52)
Four train days
Get me back to New Orleans
Drink more fishwater there
Than any whale's mama ever seen
Alright tonight
I've been fueling my dreams eatin greens and beans
When I get back down there
I'm gonna drink more fish stew
Than all the big fishes do
And I still want more
I still want more
More...
I still want more
Gimme tonight
Gonna dream my way on back
Spend my life down there
Down on that bourbon street
Watch my money, and mind my legs down in New Orleans
Can't tell which mens turns womens there
And which womens just turns mean
And I still want more
I still want more
More...
I still want more
04 Christmas Katie (06:16)
The Cadillacs roll, Katie step to the side
Tellin' jokes with strangers
A kind glance at a lonely passer-by
Jingle bells, electric lights
Oh, they rattle 'gainst the shopping cart
Even on the fourth of July
Christmas Katie calls people names
They're Dancers, and Blitzens, and angels on high
Chilly bones laughin' after the night
Oh, the hungries come and go
As he blows with his eyes froze tight
Slidell boy, big city nights
Oh, he tips his hat for dinner
An old stray beggin' for a bite
Oh, Christmas Katie, babe, blow your horn
Play something happy, leave the sad one's alone
Crackin' a smile as small as wishes
Make us some merry, make it last for a while
Hey, puttin' out the dog, put the wheels on tight
Oh, play another sweet song
Never wanna see Katie cry
Jingle bells, electric lights
They rattle 'gainst the shopping cart
Even on the fourth of July
Oh, Christmas Katie, baby blow that horn
Play something happy, leave the sad ones alone
Slidell smiles as small as wishin'
Make us some merry, make it last for a while
Oh, make it last all night!
08 Weight of the World (07:22)
Woman, she's moving to the weight of the world
Momma, she's carrying the weight of the world
All the time she breathing in the weight of the world
Bring it on home
Bring the soup-bone home
Well, poppa, too, he got the weight of the world
Man is moving in to the weight of the world
And all the time, along with the soup he's bringing home
The weight of the world
Bring it on home
Bring the soup on home
Children, too, fall to this weight of the world
All the time they they fall... right there into the weight
And all the time they're trying to shake
The weight of the world
Bring it on home
Bring the soup on home
Everybody's going to the wake of the world
We're all dressing up fine for the wake of the world
And everybody's hiding behind trees, breathing loud
The weight of the world
Bring it on home
Bring the soup on home
10 Coconuts (08:05)
I like coconuts, you can't break them open
they smell like ladies,
lyin in the sun
I like coconuts you can't break them open
they smell like ladies,
lyin in the sun
And if I had my way
I'd give a coconut to everyone
Well I gotta friend named Jack
Look like he born in a paper sack
well that's my friend Jack
Oooh, c'mon Jack
Smell these coconuts
There's enough for everyone
Jackie likes the smell of cut grass
he used to play ball on Saturdays
Playin in the sun
Jackie likes the smell of cut grass
he used to play ball on Saturdays
Playin in the sun
If Jackie had his way,
he'd give some cut grass to everyone
Well I gotta friend named Fred
Look like he born in a slanty shed
(in some versions "piece of bread)
well that's my friend Fred
Oooh, c'mon Fred
Smell these coconuts
There's enough for everyone
Freddy likes the sound of cold drink
he used to pop tops on Saturdays,
sippin in the sun
Freddy likes the sound of cold drink
he used to pop tops on Saturdays,
sippin in the sun
If Freddy had his way
ooh, he'd give a cold drink to everyone
(I'm gonna follow my nose to where the coconut grows
nobody knows like my nose, to find those, no)
I like coconuts, you can't break them open and they smell like ladies,
Lyin in the sun
11 Arleen (04:46)
Arleen was a G what a G
Arleen was a G what a G
Arleen was a G what a G
Arleen was a G what a G
Life was a thing that money could buy
Rich would live and the poor would die
Life was thing that money could buy
Rich would live and the poor would die
Arleen was a dream what a G
Arleen was a dream what a G
Arleen was a dream what a G
Arleen was a dream what a G
Arleen was a dream
What a G what a G
Lean sideway
Woke up in the morning about 10:13
Six pack of stout a stick of sensi
Woke up this morning what do I see
No no no, it's not like it, like it
Arleen was a dream what a G
Arleen was a dream what a G
Arleen was a dream what a G
Arleen was a dream what a G
{PANIC!}
Why does a rich man drink champagne?
Drink half a beer feel all the same
Life was a thing that money could buy
Rich would live and the poor would die
El Nino!
Electricity out, mine's out
Cat's been out for days
Hear it hollering on the trees over the sky
Lord Lord Lord Lord!
Can't stand it, no
Can't stand it, no
No no no I can't stand it, no
No no no I can't stand it, no
Life was a thing that money could buy
Rich would live and the poor would die
Why does a rich man drink champagne
Drink half a beer feel all the same
Woke up this morning
Woke up this morning about 10:13
Six pack of stout a stick of sensi
Go in the kitchen what do I see
No electricity
No TV
No Andy
I got my uncle (???)
Watch a whole hour of goodness and old time black and white
Loving that Barney boy
Lord!
Can't stand it, no
No no no I can't stand it, no
No no no I can't stand it, no
No no no I can't stand it, no
Arleen was a dream what a G
Arleen was a dream what a G
Arleen was a dream what a G
Arleen was a dream what a G
Arleen was a dream what a G
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