Well, after what seemed like a long time away from this venue I returned for a night of music that can only redefine the meaning of "Jam" as The Allman Brothers Band and Widespread Panic took the stage that night and rocked the house for nearly five hours of Jam music. As I pulled into the parking lot and made my way to the venue, the scene out there did remind me of a Dead, Phish or Dave Matthews concert with all the early tail-gateing, tie-dye's and the scent of petrouli incense in the air, as well as that other scent that I knew wasn’t coming from across the Delaware River from the Philly side.
        Now, I have never seen Widespread Panic before, but when they hit the stage at exactly 7pm and and ran through an impressive 14 song set that clocked in at 2 hours long, I can now say I'm a huge fan. Playing on a stage that was not that well lit and no major production or special effects that I have been lucky enough to see quite a lot of this year, they just put on one hell of an amazing live performance. The band, from Athens, Georgia, is: John Bell, lead singer and guitar, John Herman on keyboards, Todd Nance on drums, Domingo "Sonny" Ortiz on percussion, Dave Schools on Bass and Jimmy Herring on lead guitar (who had a brief stint with the Allman Brothers in 2000). Opening their set with "Lil Kin", and with all band members not even moving out of step for the next two hours, ran through a variety of their hits that included "Radio Child," "Up All Night," "Can't Get High," "Fishwater," "Christmas Katie," Travelin' Light," "Diner," "Space Wrangler," "Blackout Blues," "Junior," "You Should Be Glad," "Tall Boy" and "Climb To Safety." But the one song that I was really waiting to hear and thought they would play but didn't was "Angels On High" from their recent album Free Somewhere. The song has been getting quite a lot of airplay on 98 WOCM, but I guess there's always at least one or two songs you want to hear that the band doesn’t play.
        After a 45-minute set change, The Allman Brothers Band hit the stage at 9:45 and for the next 2 hours and 45 mintues did nothing but jam the entire night away. On tour celebrating their 40th Anniversary Tour, they were clearly excited to be playing the SBC to a sold-out crowd. It was also the nine year anniversary of the death of Allen Woody, former bass player for The Allman Brothers Band and Gov't Mule, and in homage to him, they played their hearts out this night. The band: Gregg Allman on vocals,organ and keyboards, Butch Trucks on drums, Jai Johanny Johanson on drums & percussion, Warren Haynes on guitar, Marc Quinones on percussion, Oteil Burbridge on bass and Derek Trucks on guitar. The show opened with a huge Allman Brothers Band 40th Anniversary Tour logo flashing on the screen behind the band that then changed to the words "Dedicated to a Brother." They opened their set with "Statesboro Blues" and then the screen flashed video clips of Duane Allman, Allen Woody and Berry Oakley, making it seem as though their fallen comrades were onstage performing with them live once more. For the next two hours, doing not much more than WP except for jammin' longer to their songs and watching video clips on the big screen behind the band. When there weren’t any video clips running it was a wall of psychedelic colors, patterns and mind puzzling effects. Maybe some of that earlier scent that was in the parking lot air made it to the stage. Or I had a contact by then.
        With Allman and his Hammond taking up half the stage, Haynes, Trucks and Oteil had all the room they needed to pull their strings and create a blazing convergence. Meanwhile, drummers Butch Trucks and Jai Johanson, along with percussionist Marc Quinones, kept the tempo on pace and in the pocket. Next up, "Les Brers," "Come & Go Blues," a cover of Stevie Ray Vaughan's "Sky Is Cryin," "Don’t Keep Me Wondering," and for the next four songs, "Guilded Splinters," "Trouble Me No More," "Good Morning Little School Girl" and "Revival," Gregg Allman invited out John Bell and Sonny from Widespread Panic to jam with them to these songs, which was a nice little treat. Next, an impressive cover of The Band’s "The Weight" that was a shock or so it seemed to from the reaction from the crowd. Allman once again invited John Bell, Sonny and now Jimmy Herring onstage for yet another jam session on “Dreams.” To close out their set, Jimmy Herring stayed onstage as they tore through a smokin' version of "One Way Out." By this time the sold-out crowd was, just let me say, "Good To Go!"
        After a short break, the band returned and closed the night with a rousing rendition of "Whipping Post" that was absolutely the perfect song to end a great night of music. Once again, that one-song jam would have been the equivalent of any other bands’ three-song encore. The only letdown was that they did not play “Melissa,” which, while I was photgraphing them, I requested Allman to play and dedicate to a dear friend GW!!! Once again, their tour is winding down now, but you can always check their website at www.allmanbrothersband.com to check on upcoming tours and news.