Following a West Coast tour filled with cities the band hasn’t played in a decade, Widespread Panic began its last stand on Thursday night at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles. For the Athens, GA blues bulldog’s first visit to the City of Angels in ten years, Widespread Panic celebrated L.A.-area luminaries War and Warren Zevon, and dusted off a Talking Heads deep cut not seen since 2023.
Coming out for the second set, drummer Derek Trucks and percussionist Domingo “Sunny” Ortiz laid the foundation for Talking Heads’ “Papa Legba.” The rhythmically fueled cover from 1986’s True Stories hadn’t been seen since April 18th, 2023 in Austin (per Everyday Companion), with Thursday marking only the fourth appearance this decade for the song that was a setlist staple in the ’80s and ’90s. Trucks, Ortiz, and bassist Dave Schools then propelled the band into “Second Skin” for some of the evening’s deepest improvisation, and the second set was off and running.
Following a genteel “Blue Indian” and a meaty sandwich of “Surprise Valley” > “Blight” > “Surprise Valley,” Widespread Panic offered its first local shoutout on War’s “Four Cornered Room.” Although not technically from Los Angeles proper, the boundary-breaking, multi-racial funk band was born about 25 miles south of the Orpheum Theatre in Long Beach (which, for the record, is still part of Los Angeles County).
Related: Watch Dave Schools Tell Red Rocks How Colorado Inspired A Classic Widespread Panic Song
Then, after closing the second set with a fluid “Chilly Water,” John Bell brought the mood down with a tender reading of Warren Zevon’s “Keep Me in Your Heart” to open the two-song encore. Though the late Excitable Boy was born in Chicago, Zevon lived most of his life in Los Angeles where he befriended fellow luminaries the Eagles and Jackson Browne in the waning light of the Laurel Canyon movement. Zevon appeared extensively alongside Browne, Bonnie Raitt, and Linda Ronstadt (who scored a Top 40 hit with a cover of Warren’s “Poor Poor Pitiful Me”) in a 1977 Dutch documentary on the L.A. music scene that’s absolutely worth a watch and embedded below.
Check out fan-shot videos from Widespread Panic in Los Angeles and photos by Josh Martin. The band returns for two more shows on Friday and Saturday. Grab tickets here or tune in for a complimentary audio livestream on the band’s YouTube channel.
Widespread Panic: “Keep Me In Your Heart” (Warren Zevon) — 7/23/26
Video: Todd Norris
Widespread Panic: “Climb To Safety” (Jerry Joseph, Glenn Esparza) — 7/23/26
Video: Todd Norris
Widespread Panic — Orpheum Theatre — Los Angeles, CA — 7/23/26 — Full Audio
Audio: Zmanatl
Wonderland [Full Documentary] — 1977
Video: Bonnie’s Pride and Joy
Setlist: Widespread Panic | Orpheum Theatre | Los Angeles, CA | 7/23/26
Set One: For What It’s Worth (Buffalo Springfield), Tall Boy > Rock, Rebirtha > King Baby > Worry, Tickle the Truth, Henry Parsons Died (Bloodin)
Set Two: Papa Legba (Talking Heads), Second Skin > Blue Indian, Tackle Box Hero > Surprise Valley > Blight (brute.) > Surprise Valley, Saint Ex, Four Cornered Room (War), Chilly Water
Encore: Keep Me in Your Heart (Warren Zevon), Climb To Safety (Jerry Joseph, Glenn Esparza)
Widespread Panic | Orpheum Theatre | Los Angeles, CA | 7/23/26 | Photos: Josh Martin
