Widespread support for Panic

The colorful masses descended upon IU early Sunday morning as a steady flow of tie-dye clad "Spreadeads" (as Widespread fans are sometimes called) flocked to the IMU parking lot in their political bumper sticker bearing vans to start the day's pre-show festivities. Trunks opened, beer coolers and grills appeared, and the muffled sounds of bootlegged Widespread Panic songs could be heard floating from various cars; slowly, the aroma of grilled veggies, and bellows of "Beer! Two for five dollars!" began to take over the lot: it was time to live it up. \nAs the day wore on and the show got closer, it was time to start heading to the auditorium. When it was finally time for the show to start, it seemed as if "sold out" didn't really mean anything; eighty percent of the chairs were still vacant and it was time for the band to take the stage, but then, just when it began to seem as if no one was coming, droves of fans dutifully poured into the auditorium to bring the party from the parking lot inside. \nWidespread got the show off to a booming start with a psychedelic light show that corresponded with the aptly named "Disco." After a few fast-paced songs, the band bumped the energy down a few notches by playing a leisurely number about romance and poetry called "Fishing." After the brief rest from Widespread's signature fast-paced sound, the band played three more swift numbers before closing their first of two full sets of the night.\nAfter a 15-minute break, the band got back into the swing of things with "Let's Get Down To Business," "Little Kin" and a cover of "Good Morning Little School Girl." With almost three hours of show under their belts, WP kept on truckin' with six more songs (including favorites such as "Barstools and Dreamers" and "Counting Train Cars") before finally leaving the stage for the second time. Ultimately, it seemed the show was coming to an end when the band said farewell after playing an encore of "Trouble" and "Makes Sense To Me." \nAt the end of the night, 3,000 "Spreadheads" slowly filtered out of the IU Auditorium, and made their way back to the IMU parking lot where they gathered up their wares and headed out to their next destination, Milwaukee, Wisc., ready to inflict Panic on another city.