subject: Widespread Panic Tickets : Jojo Herman Announced That The Band Would Be Going On Hiatus In 2012 [print this page] Widespread Panic is an American rock band from Athens, Georgia. The current lineup includes guitarist/singer John Bell, bassist Dave Schools, drummer Todd Nance, percussionist Domingo "Sunny" Ortiz, keyboardist John "JoJo" Hermann, and guitarist Jimmy Herring. Michael Houser and George McConnell have also played lead guitar for the band.
Since their inception in Athens, GA in 1986, Widespread Panic has risen to elite status among American jam bands.Following in the steps of other Southern rock jam bands such as The Allman Brothers, they have influences from the Southern rock, blues-rock, progressive rock, funk and hard rock genres. They are frequently compared to other jam band "road warriors" such as the Grateful Dead and Phish.
Widely renowned for their live performances, as of 2010, they hold the record for number of sold out performances at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, CO at 35 and Philips Arena in Atlanta, GA at 17.
In late 2006, Fayetteville, NC native Jimmy Herring took over the reins of the lead guitarist in the band, kicking off their fall tour with three nights at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York.Panic 7th annual New Year shows on December 30 and 31st, 2007 marked their 15th and 16th sellout performance at Philips Arena.The band released their 10th album, Free Somehow, on February 12, 2008. It, too, was recorded with producer Terry Manning at Compass Point Studios.
Following the release of the new studio album, Widespread Panic began to release vintage concert performances from the Widespread Panic Archives. Carbondale 2000 was released on June 10, 2008 followed by Valdosta 1989 released on February 24, 2009 and Huntsville 1996 released on June 23, 2009. The band will continue to dig into their show archives, which encompasses the past 25 years, and release these shows as multi-track recordings.
June 27, 2008 marked the band's 32nd sold-out show at Red Rocks Amphitheater. This was more than any other band in the venue's history. Mayor John Hickenlooper proclaimed Friday, June 27 "Widespread Panic Day" in the City and County of Denver.The same year, Widespread Panic was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame on September 20.
The band continued to tour throughout the rest of 2008 and the spring of 2009. In the summer of 2009, Widespread Panic teamed up with fellow southern rockers, The Allman Brothers to do a summer and fall co-headlining tour.In March 2010, it was announced that Widespread Panic would be releasing a new album entitled Dirty Side Down on May 25, 2010.The band is also releasing Live in the Classic City II, containing music from its 2000 shows.
On September 29, 2010, Widespread keyboardist Jojo Herman announced that the band would be going on hiatus in 2012. In an interview with the Vanderbilt Hustler, Herman explained, "Next year will be our 25th anniversary. After that, we're probably going to call it (quits) for awhile. So we're looking forward to next year and going out on a high note."
Known for never playing the same show twice, the band has a show-to-show ritual of choosing the night's setlist. At the beginning of each tour Garrie Vereen, a member of the band's road crew, makes a master list of all the songs the band performs and laminates it. Each night before the show he marks the last 3 nights' set lists in different colors.
The band can see what has been played recently and then decide what songs to play during the first set. They return back to the list during setbreak to pick songs for the second set, and likewise, return after the second set for any additional sets if playing more than two, or the encore. This process is explained by Vereen in the DVD The Earth Will Swallow You.
Widespread Panic has the policy of allowing any of their fans to tape, trade, and distribute their shows. Fans have been taping and trading shows since before they gained national prominence, allowing them to gain their strong national following.
