The Smell of Panic

September 2, 1997

It was the usual scorching summer afternoon, and I was in Knoxville, Tennessee, for the first time waiting for the fall semester to begin. I stopped by a friend's place to see what was going on that evening. Everyone I knew was going to see the band, Wide Spread Panic. So, I went down and got a ticket to see what all the "hoopla" was about. When I met my friends later that evening, everyone was dressed up in their tie-dyed t-shirts, cut-off shorts and Birkenstocks. One guy, we called him Chief, wore a long skirt of some sort covered with weird paisley designs.

At this point I didn't know what I had gotten myself into, but after hanging out and listening to their first CD, Space Wrangler, I thought the band didn't seem too bad. The songs "Coconut" and "Porch Song" I really enjoyed, but doesn't everyone? Next stop - the concert.

There were hippies and freaks everywhere, and from all over the place the smell of incense filled the air along with a few other noticeable aromas. The band was getting ready to play. "All the way from Athens, G A ... Wide Spread Panic!" some guy in his mid-thirties with curly hair and large round glasses, yelled through the mic. As the band kicked into a jam, the crowd went wild and jumped into a crazy dance with arms flying and heads shaking back and forth. I stood looking around in disbelief, wondering what was going on. The beat was picking up as the lead guitarist (Michael Houser) stood still with his hair in his face, and he blasted his cords throughout the theater. The percussionist (Domingo S. Ortiz) accompanied him on bongos while juggling anything from a tambourine to a rain-stick. The base player (Dave Schools) kicked in some licks from his guitar, while a fan blew his long black hair to the side. Drummer (Todd Nance) held steady waiting for everyone else to catch up. Just as they started to mold together, the lead vocalist (Jon Bell) stepped to the mic and charmed the crowd.

I don't remember what song they opened with, but I do know one thing: by the end of that song I was right down in the middle of all those hippies and freaks, "puttin' on my own groove." I was one of them now. I was home.

Six years later this tight knit bunch from different backgrounds - with the addition of John Hermann on keyboards - has blossomed into one of the greatest free form bands around. "People make it happen," explains Domingo, "the music is the glue; it will always be there and the fans, they'll literally start when they're thirteen years old and come up 'til they're forty. There's going to be a whole new slew of Panic Heads."

Widespread Panic will be performing at the new Orlando House of Blues, located near Pleasure Island, September 23-24 .Tickets are already on sale through Ticket Master or the H.O.B. box office. For more concert information check out the Widespread Panic Official Web Site and remember tour dates are subject to change, so call before you haul.

Tyler Moreton
one of my favorite so called ways of life, "Draw unto others as they have drawn unto you" (C. Brown,1991). At least that's the way I remember it. This one may be a little misleading. It's treat people how you would like to be treated, not treat people like you've been mistreated. It took me a little while to get that one, but it finally sunk in.