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Song Review: Widespread Panic - “Smokestack Lightning” (Live, July 10, 2026)

Widespread Panic were gritty, grimy and charged with electricity July 10 in Oregon when they performed “Smokestack Lightning.”

The band was enamored enough with the results, it released a professional video. Upon watching and listening to it, fans will likely be enamored, too.

It’s a not-too-often revealed side of the Panics, one where jamming is confined within a simmering, unchanging melody and the players must work as hard at restraint as they typically do at revelry.

The result is a quarter-hour of smolder. Widespread Panic is not really a blues band, but can pull it off on occasion.

Grade card: Widespread Panic - “Smokestack Lightning” (Live - 7/10/26) - B

John Bell Channels Neil Young on Widespread Panic’s Version of “Don’t be Denied”

- New video meres practice/performance footage into single rendition

Backstage at Red Rocks, John Bell sung almost exactly like Neil Young while guitarist Nick Johnson channeled Warren Haynes as Widespread Panic rehearsed “Don’t be Denied.”

It’s Bell’s uncanny aping of Young that’s most striking on a the freshly released video that blends the band’s June 28 practice and performance into a single song.

By the time they take the stage, the Panics sound unmistakably Widespread, with Bell singing more like himself, percussionist Sunny Ortiz’s adding his signature layer to the rhythm section and Jojo Hermann contributing a piano solo that strengthens the song’s country vibe.

In retrospect, it’s no surprise Bell can ape Young with the accuracy of a musical Rich Little. What is surprising is that Sound Bites was surprised when he first heard this, having never noticed the obvious vocal similarities.

The More Widespread Panic Changes, the More Widespread Panic Stays the Same

Consistency, thy name is Widespread Panic.

Through four decades, lineup changes and periods of ups and downs in the studio, the Panics have remained uncommonly the same on stage. That’s not to say the songbook hasn’t expanded and the music hasn’t evolved, but it is to say Widespread’s live sound of 2026 is identifiable as the same group behind the Panicky performances of the late-1980s.

This is underlined by the band’s generous, four-song livestream giveaway from its June 27 gig at Red Rocks.

Guitarist Nick Johnson, filling in for the ailing Jimmy Herring, who replaced George McConnell, who replaced Michael Houser, has what it takes to make “The Take Out,” an instrumental, sound as it should.

Then, there’s John Bell, the rhythm guitarist and singer whose voice is remarkably unchanged by time. Anyone with doubts needs only to cue up “Wondering,” “Little Kin” and “C. Brown” to assuage those feelings.

And though Duane Trucks plays drums differently than Todd Nance played drums, percussionist Sunny Ortiz is the thruline in Panic’s rhythmic propulsion. And the with co-founding bassist Dave Schools and almost-forever keyboardist Jojo Hermann chiming in, Widespread Panic still sounds like Widespread Panic and Widespread Panic still sounds like no other group.

Widespread Panic to Enter Colorado Music Hall of Fame as Honorary Coloradans

- “No other band is more deserving,” Gov. Jared Polis says

Widespread Panic is about to become the Colorado Music Hall of Fame’s first Honorary Coloradan inductee.

The Georgia-bred band will receive the honor during its June 27 concert at Red Rocks. The following night, it will play its record-holding 78th sellout show at the venue, a streak stretching back to 1996.

“Widespread Panic is the undisputed kings of Red Rocks and a household name in Colorado,” Gov. Jared Polis said, as reported by Westword.

“ … No other band is more deserving of the Colorado Music Hall of Fame’s inaugural Honorary Coloradan induction award.”

The Rocky Mountain state “is an inspiration in itself” and performing at Red Rocks “is a dream come true,” WSP’s singer and rhythm guitarist John Bell said.

“And being asked to join (late concert promoter) Bill Bass and many of our friends in Colorado Music Hall of Fame is one of the happiest surprises Widespread Panic will forever be humbled by,” he said.

Widespread Panic Shows its “Halloween Face” Backstage and Onstage

- Hybridized video melds June 13 rehearsal and performance footage

Sometimes, bands wear their game faces. Widespread Panic sometimes wears its “Halloween Face.”

The Panics released a hybridized “Face” that combines backstage video and sound with onstage video and sound from June 13 in Maryland to create a montage of the song being worked into shape and working in shape.

It’s a cool experiment using one of WSP’s less-interesting songs. For while it has all the elements of the band wrapped in its eight-minute package, “Halloween Face” is not the kind of tune one goes in to a Panic show - or even the Panic archives - jonesing to find.

It’s as if Widespread Panic is dressing itself up as a mediocre jamband. That the anything-but-mediocre group pulled it off might be this video’s biggest triumph.

The Scientific Research Notes of S. Sunkavally. Years: 1986 - 1990.

Song Review: Widespread Panic - “And it’s Stoned Me” (Live, May 8, 2026)

Widespread Panic is perfectly capable of playing “Stoned” - with a big “S” - thank you very much.

As performed May 8 in Las Vegas and released on professional black-and-white video, Panic’s take on “And it’s Stoned Me” reveals fidelity to both Van Morrison’s original recording and the band’s own sonic aesthetic.

John Bell’s vocals are the most apparent lines in the Widespread fingerprints; however, Nick Johnson and Jojo Hermann enhance the Panicky flavor on guitar and piano, respectively. Johnson’s solo is particularly alluring as he balances restraint with intensity in the first instrumental break.

Taken in toto, Panic’s reading of “Stoned” is something of a breather, a chance for band and audience to catch their collective breath - perhaps inhale deeply - amid the energetic arc of a Widespread Panic performance.

Grade card: Widespread Panic - “And it’s Stoned Me” (Live - 5/8/26)

@ breegwenevere