Panic at the Coliseum - Night 1 Recap

Last night I went to see Widespread Panic at the MidSouth Coliseum. Rumor has it that tonight's Panic show will be the last concert ever at the Coliseum. This is a place where both The Beatles and Elvis Presley have performed as well as countless others. But it is a P.O.S. and needs to have some serious renovations or to be demolished. I'm not in favor one way or the other.
So last night Brandon, the Weak Bitch (WB), stopped in town on his way back home to Dallas from Oxford. He went with me for his first Panic show. We caught a cab at 6 to Newby's. They have a shuttle special where you pay $5 to ride a MATA bus to the show and then ride back for free. Hmm...I can do that or pay more than $5 to park at the coliseum. Hmm...curbside dropoff/pickup or dealing with traffic leaving the concert. Sounds like a no brainer. We rolled into Newby's and I introduced him to two of the local staples: a Rockstar and an order of smothered tots (tater tots covered with bacon and smothered cheese with ketchup and sour cream on the side).
After a few cocktails and the tots, we went to the show. They dropped us off by the south entrance. The line was at least 150 feet long. It was ridiculous. I said we needed to try the north side. There were 10 people in line. Like Hannibal in the A-Team always said, I love it when a plan comes together. We went in and found Zac, Jake, Matt, and Etz. They were up in the stands off to the left of the stage. The doors opened at 7. We got to our seats around 7:50. At this point the roadies were still doublechecking things. We waited and waited. I finally had to hit the head. I was in line and all of a sudden we all heard the crowd scream and this voice come over the speakers introducing the band. It was Dave Brown of Channel 5. Pretty damn cool.
Why is that cool? For those of you who don't know the Midsouth Coliseum is where most of the pro-wrestling that was on TV back in the 70s and 80s was filmed. All the Jerry "The King" Lawler and Andy Kaufmen stuff happened there. Dave Brown used to be a ring announcer or commentator or something. I couldn't understand what he said, but someone told me it was something like "Weighing in at 500 lbs and standing 6' 4", Widespread Panic!" Kinda cool.
So they immediately jumped in with 'Love Tractor'. That's a personal favorite. And actually at my first WSP show at the coliseum in November 2000, that was the first song. Pretty damn cool. Here's the setlist from the show:

07/28/06 Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis, TN
1: Love Tractor, Goodpeople > Going Out West*, C. Brown**, Better Off**, Walk On*, Don't Wanna Lose You*, Sleeping Man*, All Time Low*, Cream Puff War
2: You Got Yours, Chilly Water > Makes Sense To Me > Chilly Water, Surprise Valley > Driving Song > You Should Be Glad > Drums > Surprise Valley* > Driving Song*, Climb To Safety*
E: Vampire Blues*, Junior*
* with John Keane on Guitar** with John Keane on Pedal Steel['You Got Yours' Last Time Played 6/29/02]

At the end of 'You Should Be Glad' and beginning of 'Drums', Schools (bass) was on stage playing bass with Sonny (percussion) on congas. Schools changed basslines and started singing into the microphone. It took a few lyrics and I went nuts! He was singing The Cars 'Moving In Stereo'. It was just a tease though as he only sang about 4 or 5 lines before leaving the stage for the drum solo. No one else there caught that and obviously it didn't go into the set list on Everyday Companion. Stupid hippies.
It was an amazing show. By far the best I've ever seen. And I've been going to Panic shows since '98. WB and I left at Vampire Blues to catch the bus because we were worn out. I was ready to go drink. We caught the bus back to Newby's which was packed full of folks. It was ridiculous. We hung out for a drink and then caught a cab home. We ordered a pizza and watched TV.

So tonight I'm going back. I wasn't planning on it, but I talked to Too Tall Todd and he said he wanted to go so we're heading down there tonight. But first I have to run to the office and do a little paper work. So you kids have a good one. I'll see you at the show.