The incredible Moody Theater at the W Hotel downtown hosted Widespread Panic Tuesday and Wednesday for two nights of Southern, jam rock as the seminal band from Athens, Georgia marks 25 years of entertaining music fans worldwide. In one of the first pay-per-view live streams hosted on Facebook, ACL Live partnered with Stageside Productions to show the concert on Facebook for $5 or 50 Facebook credits. The buzz about the stream notwithstanding, Widespread played an impressive three hour set with a short intermission.
Tom Gimbel, ACL TV's General Manager remarked on Twitter Tuesday, "Watching the Widespread Panic live streaming event from ACL-Live tonight. Amazing production - looks like I'm watching an HD DVD on laptop!"
We watched the feed Wednesday from our desk and the production values were excellent although we had a bit of trouble smoothing out the feed at 7pm when most fans were attempting to log into the site en masse. The concert, however, outshone the video on our computer monitor with an original, improvised light show to accompany guitarist Jimmy Herring's extended solo sections and John Bell's guitar and vocals.
A highlight was the drum trio near the end of set two with drummer Todd Nance, percussionist, Domingo "Sunny" Ortiz and a special guest of Ortiz. Ortiz appeared to lead the trio, establishing a frenetic beat on congas as Nance held the tempo on his kit. The crowd was spell-bound. It was a captivating moment during a concert that featured plently of noteable moments.
Here is the setlist from Tuesday's performance. Cover, "Smokestack Lightin'" was especially good.
06/14/11 The Moody Theater, Austin, TX1: Jam > Driving Song > Disco > Driving Song, C. Brown, Jaded Tourist, Impossible > Smokestack Lightning, Gimme, Stop-Go, Walk On2: Cotton Was King, Rock, Holden Oversoul > Christmas Katie > Radio Child, Barstools and Dreamers > Machine > Drums*, Flicker > Pilgrims > Climb To SafetyE: Don't Wanna Lose You > Bowlegged Woman
* with Phil Bass on percussion
[Austin City Limits Live; 'Thank You Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin' rap during 'Barstools and Dreamers'; Soundcheck: 'She Caught The Katy', 'Little Wing', 'Stop Breakin' Down Blues']
We included photos from sound check (see above for songs played during the check) as well as Tuesday's performance in the slideshow on the left side bar.
The Moody Theater has been busy as confirmed by ACL Live's Director of Marketing, Sharilyn Mayhugh who mentioned before Tuesday's show, "We have a performance here nearly every night for the rest of June. It's busy."
Upcoming performances at ACL Live: Explosions in the Sky (Friday), Bootsy Collins (Sunday) and Austin's own, Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears will tape an episode of Austin City Limits TV on Monday. See full calendar listings here.
Special thanks to Sharilyn Mayhugh for facilitating coverage.
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