Recorded live during the veteran Southern rock road warriors' 2012 tour, which represented their first ever all-acoustic jaunt, the appropriately titled
Wood was culled from performances in Washington, D.C.; Atlanta, Georgia; and Denver and Aspen, Colorado. No strangers to coming up with new and inventive ways to present their enormous catalog to the masses, Athens, Georgia's answer to
the Grateful Dead offers up an engaging mix of
WP standards ("Ain't Life Grand," "Tall Boy," "Climb to Safety") and notable covers (
John Lennon's "The Ballad of John and Yoko,"
Jimmy Cliff's "Many Rivers to Cross"), all of which are delivered with the same boundless energy and wily musicality, albeit of a much more elegant nature, that fuels their legendary electric performances. For any other group, a sit-down, stripped-down set of favorites would smell of a cash grab, but
Widespread Panic approach the material with nuance, reverence, and whimsy. [
Wood is also available in a limited-edition three-LP box set that features 180-gram vinyl, a letterpress poster, extensive liner notes, and a 12-page photo booklet.] ~ James Christopher Monger