It’s A New Day Panic en la Playa 2018, A Conversation with Curtis George, and Breaking News! Well, we did it. It only took 47 episodes and well over 100 hours of Widespread Panic to FINALLY play something recorded after July 2, 2002. To usher in this new era for The Bluest Tape, we invite Mr. Curtis George, the creator and overseer of Panicstream.com, the essential online streaming source not just for live Widespread Panic, but dozens of other bands, too. Curtis lets us in on how his site got st...
Feb 22, 2018•3 hr 23 min•Ep. 47
“Love,” Panic-Style Happy Valentine’s Day! Young Lovers! You are in luck tonight as your friends here at The Bluest Tape have provided you with the perfect soundtrack for Valentine’s Day 2018. We have the set for you - a tender love song or two (including the 2nd greatest love song as delivered by a Filipino Elvis Tribute Artist!), a not-so tender love song or two, and some songs about, well, the physical act of “love.” But, of course, these songs come with a warning, too - just be careful of yo...
Feb 14, 2018•2 hr 9 min•Ep. 46
Raise Another Glass Panic + Beer, Volume 2 Last week, we did malty beers. This week, we do hoppy beers. The complete yin-and-yang of Jeff and Harvey is on display, although we do tend to agree on our Panic selections. Each pick this episode features a special guest. Harvey gets us started up in Stowe, VT, the home of the East Coast IPA, with a 1993 show featuring Warren Haynes’ second guest spot with Panic. Then, we jump ahead to two 1995 shows, one featuring the underrated Gibb Droll, the other...
Feb 07, 2018•2 hr 48 min•Ep. 45
Cheers to Your Friends So Near! Panic + Beer, Volume 1 We can agree that nothing goes better with Widespread Panic than a ice cold beer, right? Now, we’re not talking about $8.00 domestic macro brews in a summer shed, but rather one of the many wonderful barley pops made by hand throughout our fair land. This week, Jeff shares four of his favorite brown ales and matches them up with selections from Panic’s past. We get things started down in Tampa, Florida with a great segment from early 1993 an...
Jan 31, 2018•2 hr 26 min•Ep. 44
More Skiing and More Sitting A Journey Through Sit n Ski ‘96, Part 2 Here we are, part two of our journey through the epic 1996 Sit n Ski Tour through the Rocky Mountains. At some point during these two episodes, Harvey mentioned the strong feelings folks have about the tour, those that love it and others that loathe it. Really? People don’t like Sit n Ski? We thought the only thing we argued about in Panic world was about guitar players! There are moments of sheer brilliance, y’all...BRILLIANCE...
Jan 24, 2018•2 hr 11 min•Ep. 43
We’re Not So Sure About the Skiing, but We’re Totally Cool with the Sitting Part A Journey Through Sit n Ski ‘96, Part 1 Hard to believe that the legendary Sit n Ski Tour was some 22 years ago this month. What a tour it was, the band hanging out for almost a full month in the Rocky Mountains, mostly in ski resort towns, but a few urban areas and college towns thrown in for good measure. Sit n Ski evolved from the first show to the last, starting out as a true acoustic show with some solo spots a...
Jan 17, 2018•2 hr 26 min•Ep. 42
New Year, New Songs (Or At Least Once Upon A Time They Were New) Debuts! The Bluest Tape kicks off 2018 proper-like with a set full of debuts from the mid-to-late 1990s. The Stable Geniuses here at the beloved pod have culled some interesting material this week, starting with very first “Diner,” oddly enough, from T. Lavitz’s next-to-last show in February 1992. Then, we head all the way out to Santa Fe for a pretty solid “Blackout Blues” from 1993 (Was it actually the best version ever? Maybe…),...
Jan 10, 2018•1 hr 55 min•Ep. 41
Looks Like We Made it Without a Glitch Happy New Moment! “Looks like we made it without a glitch!” - Dave Schools, 12/31/99 Oh, New Year’s Eve. While it might be second to only Valentine’s Day in the annals of overrated holidays, it at least is a night for some epic concerts, from the Dead and the Allmans, to Panic and Phish. This week, we celebrate New Year’s Eve’s from Panic’s glory years, focusing on 1995 to 1999, all in the state of Georgia, each year getting bigger and bigger, culminating i...
Jan 03, 2018•2 hr 14 min•Ep. 40
College Football Playoff, Redux Man, were we wrong! Back in the late summer (episode #23 to be precise), we made our College Football Playoff picks, choosing Ohio State, USC, Florida State, and Alabama as our final four. Well, we only got one team right, but I think overall, we have a much better, more competitive, and more entertaining final four than we previously envisioned. So, congrats to the fans of Clemson, Oklahoma, Georgia, and Alabama. This week’s episode looks at selections from Tusca...
Dec 22, 2017•2 hr 11 min•Ep. 39
Random Panic Towns, Volume 1: Salem, Virginia Since Panic first started hitting the road, they have always had an affinity for certain places: New Orleans, Red Rocks, Chicago, and Vegas are givens, along with lots of college towns. Sometimes, though, you look at the Everyday Companion, and you discover that the band has been in certain cities a BUNCH of times with little rhyme nor reason. Routing? Family members close by? Favorite club or promoter? One of these cities is Salem, Virginia, host to...
Dec 13, 2017•1 hr 48 min•Ep. 38
The Best of Lexington A Stroll Down Memory Lane with Harvey Since Harvey let us do a show about Lawrence, Kansas, we let him do a Lexington, Kentucky show. Of course, Harvey is a proud UK grad and a diehard fan of Big Blue (Note: Jeff is neither of these things), but it wasn’t too much of a chore, though, as there have been some great shows in the Horse Capital of the World. Panic has been playing in Lexington since 1990, but really started to put it down in 1994 and beyond. For three straight y...
Dec 05, 2017•2 hr 22 min•Ep. 37
Lagniappe #2: Just Keep on Giving Thanks We’re taking another break from our regular programming - road trips and family time took precedence over the pod this week. Instead, we hope you enjoy this little taste of Widespread Panic from Thanksgiving 2001. It’s a loaded first set, featuring a split “Papa’s Home” and guest spots from the DDBB and George McConnell. Hope everyone had a grand Thanksgiving - see you back here next week! Link below goes to whole show stream from Panicstream. 24 November...
Nov 28, 2017•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 36
Giving the Gift of Panic Instead of Furniture Jeff and Harvey Celebrate The Big #17 November 21. We don’t know what it means to you all, but for Jeff and Harvey, it means the beginning of a friendship that has carried them through nearly three dozen episodes of The Bluest Tape. We had traded tapes for a while, but never met face-to-face until a pre-show beer on 11/21/00. 17 years - did you know that furniture is the preferred gift for the 17th wedding anniversary? Random, right? Anyway, this wee...
Nov 21, 2017•1 hr 52 min•Ep. 35
Lawrence, Kansas 1993-1997 This episode is an ode to Lawrence, Kansas, a city that is home to the University of Kansas, the third-to-fifth best college basketball program in history, an 1863 Civil War massacre, and six stellar Widespread Panic concerts from 1993 to 1997. While we discuss all of these topics, plus talk about European bootlegs of Panic shows from the 1990s, we try and stay focused on the music, and boy, do we have some music this week. We kick things off in 1993 for the first show...
Nov 15, 2017•2 hr 46 min•Ep. 34
Lagniappe #1: A Tasty Treat from Fall 1998 We’re taking a little break from our usual programming this week. We hope you this little taste of Widespread Panic from Fall Tour 1998 - play it LOUD! Links below go to whole show streams from Panicstream. 05 November 1998 - Greenville, SC - Timmons Arena, Furman University Ophelia > Diner > I’m Not Alone Source: AKG 483 > Oade M248 > SBM-1 by Max Hester Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Nov 07, 2017•32 min•Ep. 33
Happy Halloween Ya Bunch of Freaks! As you might imagine, it’s pretty hard to pass up doing a Halloween-themed podcast when the podcast drops on Halloween, so no tricks here - we’re delivering what you, the listening public, wants. Though, instead of placing a bucket of bustouts above your door and dumping it in on you when come by for Whoppers and Oh Henry bars, we go in a different direction by playing some of favorite regular rotation songs from Halloweens past. Things get started with a holi...
Oct 31, 2017•2 hr 29 min•Ep. 32
Before We Ride On to Another City: All Hallow’s Eve Eve Over the years, Widespread Panic has blessed us with some incredible Halloween shows, bustouts, and rarities, from way back in 1992 at the Georgia Theater and the numerous runs in NOLA, to the recent Panic 3.0 shows in Colorado and elsewhere. Sometimes, though, the band reminds us that the road to Halloween is paved with hidden gems, too. This week, we bring a blistering segment from Halloween Eve 1993 from the 2nd largest city in Idaho; an...
Oct 24, 2017•2 hr 6 min•Ep. 31
The Rockwell Chronicles, Volume 2 We are back with the second part of our conversation with Everyday Companion founder and true friend of the podcast, Ted Rockwell. We start the music with a clip from Ted’s very first Panic show, 7/22/92 at the Park West in Chicago. This is an absolutely sublime version of “Stop-Go,” one that really shows how much the band had progressed from those final five man shows early that same year. Next, we jump ahead to 1998 for the final show from the band’s first Eur...
Oct 17, 2017•1 hr 52 min•Ep. 30
The Rockwell Chronicles, Volume 1 This week, we welcome another special guest into the mix - founder of the Widespread Panic setlist database, Everyday Companion, Ted Rockwell. Ted has been following Panic since 1992, and has been an instrumental behind the scenes player in helping elevate the band in online circles for two decades. He and Will Duckworth put it up online back in 1995, and soon thereafter, published the first print copy of the Companion in 1996. It is hard to imagine to the Panic...
Oct 10, 2017•1 hr 39 min•Ep. 29
Wear Your Earplugs, Kids: Fall 1998 Well, usually about this time of year the temperature would start drop a bit, the leaves would turn brilliant shades of yellow, orange, and red, and we’d be enjoying some warm cider by the fire. Alas, our world is warm, y’all - like really warm. So, even though the calendar says FALL, the weather says SUMMER. Either way, let’s dive into a pretty solid fall tour - 1998 - that will remind you that the weather will hopefully take a turn for the better very soon. ...
Oct 03, 2017•2 hr 18 min•Ep. 28
“Rock n Roll, or Whatever You Call It:” Panic and the Boys from Bloodkin This week, we highlight a handful of songs brought to Widespread Panic by Daniel Hutchens and Eric Carter, aka Bloodkin. They came up at about the same time in Athens, and while Panic has achieved jam band royalty status, Bloodkin has remained under the radar, despite their massive songwriting output and far reaching influence, extending far beyond Panic. It is really hard to imagine Panic without the songs of Danny and Eri...
Sep 26, 2017•1 hr 29 min•Ep. 27
Here Are Some Pretty Little Songs Guaranteed To Make You Cry Fall Tour 1997 The title of this episode is actually a JB’ism from 9/15/97, and we should all know by now that when John Bell dips into the well of ironic understatement, hold onto your hats (backwards or not). This week’s selections from the middle of the first leg of the Fall 1997 are classic Panic, and, if you’re from the “School of Heavy Panic” like we are, this episode is for you. We start with a “Chilly Water” from 9/19/97 in Sou...
Sep 19, 2017•1 hr 52 min•Ep. 26
Sandwich Artistry Panic Sandwiches Everyone loves a good sandwich - whether they are the kind between two pieces of bread or when Panic splits a song in half. This week’s selections are both rare (uncommon) and well done (well executed). We start with a return to Buckhannon, West Virginia (episode 1) and a rare Dirty Business sandwich from 4/20/96. After a return to Red Rocks in 1998 for an inverted Pleas > Chilly > Pleas sandwich, we head to Harvey’s stomping grounds in Lexington, KY for ...
Sep 12, 2017•2 hr 10 min•Ep. 25
Houston (and Beaumont, Orange, and Elsewhere), We’re With You! A 1,000 year flood.27,000,000,000,000 gallons of water.100,000+ homes damaged.Unfathomable numbers and unfathomable destruction all along the Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coast. Hurricane Harvey was certainly an all-timer. From afar, it has been remarkable to witness communities coming together to help one another. The water will recede, but the effects of the damage will last for years. Houston (and Beaumont, and Orange, and elsewhere),...
Sep 05, 2017•1 hr 59 min•Ep. 24
The Bluest Tape College Football Preview, Redux For this week’s Bluest Tape, we have a special guest, ESPN Senior Writer Mark Schlabach, who further breaks down the upcoming college football season for us. No surprise, he likes Ohio State and Alabama, too. Mark attended the University of Georgia from 1991-96, and, like many UGA students at that time, found himself at the Georgia Theatre and other venues around the South in pursuit of the “lingering lead.” Mark shares a few memories of what life ...
Aug 29, 2017•1 hr 50 min•Ep. 23
Forget Phil Steele. Forget Pat Forde. Forget Tony Barnhart. When you want hard-hitting hot takes about the upcoming college football season, everyone knows that The Bluest Tape is the place to get them. What, that’s not the case? Okay, maybe we overstated a bit, but still, we kind of know what’s going on, so give us a chance. Anyway, we pair our preseason top four with four great shows from Widespread Panic’s illustrious past. We start out west with a post-Halloween 2000 gem from the Wiltern The...
Aug 22, 2017•2 hr 16 min•Ep. 22
Mikey and Us, Volume Two: Jeff’s Picks Just a few short days ago, we remembered the fifteenth anniversary of Michael Houser’s passing. It seems like yesterday, doesn’t it? This week, we look back at Mikey’s career with several selections curated by Jeff. We start off where we often do, way back in 1996, this time in the heart of the fantastic fall tour at the Barrymore Theatre in Madison, WI. Go ahead, find a better a “Pilgrims.” Next, we share a selection that will likely raise some eyebrows, t...
Aug 15, 2017•2 hr 11 min•Ep. 21
It is truly hard to believe, but on August 10, 2017, it will have been fifteen years since Michael Houser succumbed to cancer. Obviously, Widespread Panic has carried on, and Houser’s memory and music will live on indefinitely, but it is good to pause, honor his legacy, and play some of our favorite cuts from the band’s classic era. This week, Harvey makes his picks, featuring cuts from three shows he attended from 1995-97. We get things started with a demo version of “Pilgrims” with Houser on v...
Aug 08, 2017•2 hr 12 min•Ep. 20
This week, with wish a happy 75th birthday to Jerry Garcia, a musician whose influence is certainly heard in Widespread Panic’s music in the past, the present, and likely in the future, too. Like many other jambands, Panic started as a Dead cover band, but unlike others, they quickly cast aside Dead covers for original material. The Dead ethos, though, certainly remained. Our selections this week include tracks frequently covered by Panic, the Grateful Dead, and the Garcia Band, plus some late H...
Aug 01, 2017•1 hr 52 min•Ep. 19
The One Where We Talk About Carrot Top For Way Too Long We close out the month of July with the four show run that closed out the summer 1997 tour. Visiting three outdoor venues in three states, plus a special theater gig in Tampa, finds the boys in fine form after a relatively short, but still grueling, summer tour. The best part of this run is the quality of the tapes, as three of the four shows were DSBDs leaked by the band during the prep for the upcoming Light Fuse, Get Away live album. Cle...
Jul 25, 2017•1 hr 49 min•Ep. 18
