Panic=a great band. Many classify them as just a "jam" band. Idiotic. They are really more a southern rock,boogie,jazzy,RAWK band.

I've seen them live a bunch, but honestly, I've, for the most part, always loved their studio output.

I mean, on their debut, they covered the Talking Heads "Heaven" and J.J. Cale's "Travelin' Light"

Openly qual.....

I've seen em' twice and really enjoyed the shows, lots of energy and a rockin' good time. Never really liked the two studio albums I purchased. But I would see them again, if I had the chance .

I would agree they aren't really a jam band.

i liked 'em just fine. haven't really dug the past couple of studio albums, but light fuse, get away is one of my favorite live albums from any band. great for driving in the mountains on a sunny day.

their problem, like latter-day phish, is the "fans" going to see the shows these days. 80% are there to get fucked up and could give two shits about the music. i'm tired of seeing teenage girls wearing butterfly wings completely losing their shit. it's annoying.

i like panic alot....john bell's voice is as dirty as a sci fan's hepititis test

Now, see Scotty, that's funny......haha LOL,

and estone, you can kick it on my front porch any day

I was in your VW smokin a bowl with you the first time I heard Space Wrangler, and I think your instruction was something like "If y'all coming up to ATH, you need to get your brain wrapped on these guys"

I always likened them to ABB, and JB is a southern gentleman/stoner/saint.

Estone, funny you mention that, I drove from Denver to Steamboat in the summer of 2001 and rocked that and ABB "Live at Fillmore East" and blazed one and felt like I was really ALIVE!!

The release party for that was one of the greatest happenings in Athens history.

Stu will disagree but this band can/should be an integral part of any proper fine education experience at The University of Georgia.

I think at one point, I was lobbying for them to replace the Redcoat Marching Band (sorry TinyE) at halftime.

And lastly, "Blackout Blues" is still one of theme songs.

Oh and if you diss this as "jammy music for stoners" than you might wanna check your stove for a gas leak. These dudes are the real deal who fucking BRING IT.

One of the greatest experiences of my life was Lakewood 1999, free passes to the Coors Beer tent, and sniffing molly off the back of a drivers license, then laying on the lawn and letting the music wash over/through me in waves.

I'll let you S-grade molos keep your gang of fours, your fucking wires, and all your other angular guitared-bs. Give me straight ahead rock n roll with some soul, and an occassional horn section, sewn together tighter than gnat ass, you fat ass.

they're okay. I think they have some good songs, but I generally can't listen to an entire album. You could defintely make a damn fine WSP mix. They also have one of the biggest collections of douche bag fans. This board excluded of course.

Yail, I couldn't agree more. I got into Panic when I was going through my big "jam band" phase, but like you say, to simply write them off as such would be unfortunate. They could certainly jam like say Phish, but I always thought of them as a more straight-forward rawk band in comparison - maybe due to the lack of goofy lyrics about weasels named Fee and whatnot. Panic's studio efforts (particularaly early ones) are STRONG and of course they do have major chops which lends to epic live stuff (to echo LooGAR's thoughts on some added horns, I've especially loved what I've heard of them playing with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band).
I've always thought it odd that a band like Drive-By Truckers gets major love on this board (which they should, don't get me wrong), but a band like Panic that shares an AWFUL lot with DBT in terms of sound and style I assumed would get written off as a troupe of hippy-loving clowns.
But, judging by the positive response generated in this thread, I've obviously underestimated the board's opinion of Panic and this makes much more sense. After all, in my opinion, if you love DBT, I don't see how you could NOT like Panic. Each just a great band.

to this day i contend that the most fun i've EVER had at any show was seeing wsp 2 days before my birthday back in '98.

08/02/98 Riverbend Music Center, Cincinnati, OH
0: Tall Boy > Walkin' (For Your Love), Gradle > Makes Sense To Me, Big Wooly Mammoth > I Walk On Guilded Splinters > Pickin' Up The Pieces > Dyin' Man*, Sleeping Man, Low Rider** > Time Is Free Jam** > Drums > Aunt Avis*** > Impossible > Chilly Water

E: Heaven

* with Cochise Walko on percussion
** with G. Love on harmonica/vocals
*** with Jim Prescott on acoustic bass
[Travelin' Light Tour; Originally scheduled for 07/01/98, but rescheduled due to flooding; G. Love & Special Sauce, The Why Store, and Todd Snider & The Nervous Wrecks opened; Last 'Time Is Free Jam' - 10/28/94, 446 shows]


my best friend and i had purchased some special 4-pack of shows there that summer that included horde, allman bros, dave matthews band and this....
neither of us had ever heard wsp, but we went anyway.

we had lawn seats. but.....NOBODY was at the show. it was so empty that riverbend crew MADE us move down into the pavilion.
we ended up with awesome seats. the weather was nice. and the vibe was unbelievable.

i don't really listen to wsp often. definitely not studio albums. when i do listen, it's only to live shows.

i recently found that '98 show and still can't believe what a great time that show was.

so, i definitely like them. but...also contend that the BEST part of bonnaroo '02 was sunday afternoon when all their fans packed up and left.

no sir, i don't like it.

but not because i think they're a jam band; they're not, really. it probably has more to do with the fact that their show at summerfest in '01 was one of the worst concerts i've ever been to. they just don't do it for me.

Sorry gang, this band has yet to move me at all. Hell, I like DBT and have been known to play Allman Bros. occasionally as well.

I had a bunch of Spreadhead friends in LA, and I didn't get it then. I also gave 'em a listen on Rhapsody tonight and finally gave up and turned on Ice Cube.

Don't know squat about WP except for what Phishheads played when they were up here for their festivals. Used to have accounts for them at the media research place I worked at, so I'd get closer to my client quota for the day whenever their name came up in a newspaper I was scanning.

Other than that, nope.

I love 'em, and heartily agree with "You could defintely make a damn fine WSP mix."

fp

Being in Liquid Soul, which is on the "not really a jam band" end of the "Is it or is it not a jam band" spectrum, all i've got to say is this, and i feel that I'm qualified.

1. Yes Liquid Soul is a jam band.
2. WSP is way more of a jam band than Liquid Soul
3. Why is there a negative connotation attached to "jam bands"? (I believe it's because they aimlessly noodle with little sense of melody. Or that their fans smell, and resemble a plague of locusts in tie die.)

So suck it up, they're a jam band. God forbid, you like a jam band. They don't really do it for me, but i dig a couple of cuts off of that album where they team up with the dirty dozen brass band.

-phil

p.s. i hate jam bands. They're boring.

I like jam bands but am not too familiar with Panic. My jam-band friends were more focused on Dead, Phish, and moe. ABB was always a good compromise at the house.

See, typeslowly, i knew you were more than just a dude with a screename of a song i really like.......well said; i think ive made the dbt comparison in my own head but never really articulated it.

That's the funny thing about going to see DBT; the different kinds of people (jammies, indie rockers, reds, Cocaine Cowboys, etc) The only thing similiar in my mind is Elephant 6 shows--damn wide berth of fans......

I thought about drawing this comparison in my post, but couldn't get it right. Typeslowly did it quite well. Southern Rock, man.

I never could pull the trigger and actually like this band. It's my loss, I know, but somehow I just couldn't do it. Great musicians, great pedigree, but I think it's my inability to give up on bands having some sort of pop / catchy basis that keeps me from liking them more than I do.

[bizarre metaphor]It's sorta like stretching a rubberband, to me... It's anchored down somwhere, and you then drag it another way. Wilco starts over on the pop side and drags it waaay out towards Experiment Land, but they're still rooted in pop to me. WP starts in Hippyland and drags it towards pop, but still... [/bizarre metaphor] Sorry. That could've been better worded.

if i was to check out a disc by WSP what would it be? i have a heard a few songs by them, but thats about it.

Space Wrangler is their debut and IMHO still their strongest studio work;

I would put Everyday and Till The Medicine Takes in the 2nd tier

The aforementioned Light Fuse, Get Away is their pentultimate live album.

till the medicine takes is my favorite wsp album....it seems the most solid all the way through

Saw them back in something like 1995 and thought they were a great live band. Owned Everyday and thought it was a solid record, but gave it to an ex-roomate as he liked it a lot more than me at the time.

Saw them three years ago in Seattle and it was a horrible show complete with Trey from Phish joining them on stage and engaging in about a 30 minute wankfest.

Overall, I think they're unoffensive, but since most music I like needs to have some kind of punk rock ideal, I don't know that these guys are a good fit for me.

I will confess that I'm a prejudiced asshole sometimes. I never would have given WSP a cursory listen because of it was 'jam' associated and I just can't stand a lot of that music (although I'll confess again, that might have something more to do with the type of people who I've known who like it), but anyway, I was browsing a record store last year and there was this music playing and damn if it didn't catch my ear. I continued to browse and enjoy it, enough so that I actually engaged one of the clerks and asked what it was. Sure enough, WSP. I was totally shocked as it wasn't what I expected. Since then I've been wanting to hear a bit more, so I'll snag a few of these recommends and check them out proper.