Knowing absolutely nothing about Widespread Panic before encountering this release, except perhaps that they have a name which implies a leaning towards rap or hip hop, having now sat through around four hours of them I can certainly claim to be pretty well acquainted. As to whether that's a good thing or not, well...

Building their renown from the ground up in their home country of America via constant touring, if you have to lump them into that old musical comparison basket then you could say Widespread Panic are sort of a cross between the Grateful Dead and bands the likes of Blues Traveller. Formed way back in the ‘80s and hailing from the deep South, they’ve been delivering their own brand of more feel than melody, blues-tinged rock with a propensity for more jams than you’d find at the world’s biggest Devonshire tea ever since.

Umm, what exactly do you mean by "The bomb has been armed - if you stop drumming in the next 23 minutes then KABOOM?!"

If that all sounds appealing then you’re set for a treat with this release, the star of which is over two and a half hours of live set recorded in their hometown in July of 2002. While most bands could get through an entire top 40 of songs in such time, Widespread Panic only manage to plod through 22 in two entire sets and an encore. Obviously firm believers in that old adage “why use three minutes for a song when you can stretch it out to six?� (oh alright, so it’s a new adage I just made up), the at-the-time five-piece with guests (sadly their founding member Michael Houser was ill with pancreatic cancer at gig time – a disease he succumbed to a mere two months later) never let the chance for a spot of their favoured pastime of jamming go begging – perfect opportunities to show off their undeniably well-developed musical chops, but insanely boring for anybody who likes a spot of structure, or indeed melody, in their music.

Track listing…

It’s probably enough to simply say that this un-enhanced NTSC 1.78:1 ratio transfer of a shot on video affair won’t win any awards for greatness in a hurry. Sure, the live domain isn’t the best for capturing spot-on vision, however mostly things here are hampered by a slight layer of slight fuzziness, which cripples any chance detail may have had of shining through much like if you were trying to piggyback a Boeing 747 – especially on those occasions where some really naff visual effects are employed. Being another NTSC release in a PAL country is a questionable decision, the lower resolution not helping matters in the least.

Still, there are no such issues with the audio, as punters are spoiled for choice by three mixes, all of which have their merits. If you own the gear to support DTS then it’s certainly the way to go, with a fabulously involving mix that’s rife with decent subwoofwoof usage, and is marginally more ‘alive’ sounding than the otherwise fairly similar Dolby Digital 5.1 mix. A DD 2.0 selection rounds things out, which is functional enough, but does suffer from claustrophobia somewhat when compared to the other mixes. Regardless, all offer well synched sound and little to moan about.

As for extras, a whole second disc is included which has as its starring attraction the simply titled Movie. A feature length full frame presentation at 01:37:07, there’s certainly no false advertising here in this collection of interviews with all and sundry from the band and their crew, interspersed with such fun little episodes as a spot of golf, a record shopping trek, a guide to Austin Texas and a peek into the deep and meaningful method the band employs to decide their set lists. Otherwise, the seemingly extensive extras list which boasts an Exclusive Band Interview, Panic Pastimes and Meet the Crew is a complete con, as these are all simply direct links to portions of the movie. At least the photo gallery lives up to its claim, featuring 40 shots running the gamut from live to behind the scenes, stopping at most stations in-between.

If the likes of a 23-minute (!!!) percussion noodle is your idea of musical heaven then this here little two-disc set’s your Pearly Gates, all neatly packaged in a handy, carry-anywhere case. I think I’d rather have that Devonshire tea though – after all, some of us like lashings of raspberry jam in preference to pearl jam…