Milwaukee Night 2 (10/25/25)

Listen to the entire show on Nugs or Relisten or Archive.org.

Data mined and explored via Everyday Companion.

Photo Gallery.

After getting our Midwestern footing and having a grand time in the street party all day, fans were revved up for night 2. Magoo heated up the evening by playing an epic daytime set. The boys came out and Herring started off with his gray tiger stripe guitar. JB had his natural wood-grain colored Washburn (which he played the entire run! Besides his mandolin during the last song of N1). JB had his jacket on again, and the crowd wondered when it would get steamy enough for him to strip down for us again.

The Take Out kicked off Saturday night without any greeting from the Boys. This amazing instrumental had only been played one other time in 2025, Atlantic City (2/16/25), making it the second longest LTP gap of the night (28 shows). It was released on their first album Space Wrangler in 1988. Usually, Porch Song immediately follows TTO, but this time a bit of a fizzle led into Driving Song.

If you’re up-to-date on recent recaps, you can see breakdowns of how often Driving song is used as sandwich bread or just played alone. Fans were patiently waiting to see what they would make do with this tried-and-true song (833^rd time played). Right after the first half of Driving Song concluded, Jimmy ripped us into B of D. This was the first time B of D has graced our presence in the year of 2025. To say we were elated is an understatement. Schools’ stance was wiiiiiiiidespread. So wide, he almost fell over. B of D took home the longest LTP gap of the show with 32 shows (6/22/24). Such an epic original instrumental, with no studio version – we were very pleased to have it back in rotation.

The B of D thump concluded with about a minute of fizzling before Sunny’s triangle and chimes brought Driving Song back and the entire crowd sang along as we all wondered where that driver was bound. Right as Driving Song ended, Porch Song started up! What a joyous reminder that we have everything we need and to be grateful for all we have! As noted earlier, typically Porch Song follows The Take Out, so this felt like somewhat of a multi-layered sandwich to kick off the second night. We were all certainly having ourselves a GOOD TIME! Around minute 3, the band has the option to end the song (check out the previous version from Mempho) or keep the jam going. Thankfully, the Riverside crowd was treated to an extended version, as they still had FIVE minutes of playing!

After a FIRE introduction to night 2, the boys chilled it down with We Walk Each Other Home. The first song of the evening from their new album. Not a dry eye in the house, thinking about our dogs we’ve loved and lost. The band likes to tease us with the introduction to the next song, as we all wondered if we’d be blessed with a Dirty Business or Christmas Katie. Alas, JB sung “Cadillac rolls” as the entire audience audibly groaned that instead of going down to Coal Creek Canyon we’d be making sure to never see Katie cry (we like to think he said “Cadillac moans” as a reference to the crowd response). Despite the clear crowd disappointment, the boys really crushed the jam and played their hearts out.

Towards the last 30 seconds of Christmas Katie, faint sounds of Radio Child began to emerge and was used as a setup for the drums to start the next song. JB’s vocals had an echo effect, which added a special layer. We can all relate to the time of radio, before we had several music apps on our phone. Praying, hoping, and wishing that our favorite tune would come on the radio. Now we are very blessed to play any song in the entire world at any moment, including listening to JB’s squidbillie Bowlegged rap from the previous night 27 times in a row. Each band member was in full-throttle mode during Radio Child, which really revved the energy up. As we exchanged eye contact with fellow heads and stank-face nodded to each other in a knowing way, we recognized this show would be very special and they’d approach the rest of the run with absolute fury.

Jen Weigel pointed out the following day in line that Christmas Katie and Radio Child are somewhat connected. The band has played Christmas Katie 48 times in the modern era (Duanespread Herring). Radio Child immediately followed 19 times and once after they segwayed into Action Man during the X-mas Katie jam (which they’ve done six total times). This means that 39.6% of the time you hear about Katie’s shopping cart, you will also search across the stars next! Thanks for the tidbit, Jen!

After ending the song, we all needed some water, including JB! Super proud to see him drinking H₂O instead of liquor from a solo cup (assuming he uses a steel water bottle for actual water). Since we were all hydrated, Jojo could start Don’t Wanna Lose You, which was first played on 4/11/03, released on Ball in the same year. This was the 96^th time the song was played, last in Chicago (6/5/25), 18 shows ago. This song had a huge hiatus after Todd left the band. It wasn’t played again until 9/14/18, a 265-show gap!! We absolutely love this one and are VERY glad it’s back in regular rotation after that 4.5 year gap.

The song fully concluded, and JB gave away the next one with his signature “wah, wahs” sound. He really played some nice rhythm guitar to get the song going. Fans kept their stank faces on, as we geared up to walk like Tweety birdies! This was the 222^nd time played (make a wish!). After a relentless dirty jam, at 3:50 Dave said “she said just wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute, just wait a minute” sooooo many times – 15 times, according to our calculations, and then proceeded to bless us with this rap:

“Hey ahhh, you know I know it’s got commercials and all and stuff. But repo man, uhh, is on TV tonight, if you’d like to come and maybe have some popcorn and watch repo man with me tonight? Saturday Night Live! Monday Night Football! These are just some of my favorite shows. So, like, uhhh, how’d you feel if I like slunked my arm around your shoulder as we was a watching that TV? You know, when it gets to the scene, where Harry Dean Stanton gets in the glow-in-the-dark car, and drives off into the cosmos? That’s when I look at you and I say, ‘you know what, baby? You’re okay! It’s all about love for me and you, because, flying saucers are, that’s right, you go it, time machines!’ That’s right, flying saucers are time machines. And, uhhh, if you believe that, I’ll sell you a bridge over there, in some other town in Wisconsin. ‘But, seriously, baby. You’re all right!’ I’m so dog gone dirty! Cause of flat foot flewzy, she making me walk like a tweety birdie. She sing something real flewzy. She says uhhhh ‘welllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll’”

Originally released by NRBQ in 1970, we believe that the original was also inspired by the 1928 jazz song, Flat Foot Floogie, referencing a prostitute with flat feet. Having flat feet is a symptom of syphiliss otherwise called the “floy-floy.” The song was originally titled “Flat Foot Floozie” but to avoid censorship on the radio the authors changed the title to “Flat Foot Floogie.”

DAS wrapped up the heater of a set one ender with “Fuck your commercials and play me my favorite movie” and with that the first set of night two concluded.

Thirty-one minutes later, fans were back in their seats ready to rage set two, and JB came back on stage without his black note eater letter jacket. His beautiful perfect rapping and world-class guitar playing started From the Cradle continuing the Wizard of Oz theme from night one (“man behind the curtain”). This song was fairly easy to catch from 2006-2011 but has more recently become a tougher one to see live. Since Duane joined the band in the fall of 2014, it had a huge gap. The young stud didn’t play it until 2/2/16 (101 show gap) and after that not until 10/27/19 (181 show gap). After his second time replacing Todd’s incredible thunderous drumming on this number, it was played once more in 2019, once in 2020, four times in 2021, three times in 2022, once in 2023, and twice in 2025 (6/4/25 LTP). His vocal introduction was absolutely flawless, not easy to do considering all the lyrics. His suggestion to “keep your head down, keep your voice down” could be a reminder to stop talking while the band is playing. 😉 At the end, JB substituted “head” with “keep the wheels down.”

The song came to a stop, and Duane launched into Down. A complete and utter nod to Todd, the original driver of the bus (rest in peace, rise in power: 11/20/1962-8/19/20). First played on 4/16/00, it was released on Don’t Tell The Band in 2001. It’s such a classic Todd song, we can all hear his voice singing in our mind’s ear. After Duane joined the band, it wasn’t played for 294 shows (6/25/21 – Rainy Red Rocks), since then it’s relatively regularly in the rotation. The last time it was played was 22 shows ago in Nashville (4/26/25). Jojo had a great organ solo starting at 3:50, adding his classic Jojo flare. You could feel Todd’s presence in the theater after two such obvious nods to the Toddfather.

After a very very brief pause, Holden Oversoul started. Slot 3 of the second set is an important slot at a show and can really differentiate an average show from an amazing one. At about 3:30 the jam launched into the deep end, with (you guessed it) JB strongly in the mix. It was a slow-build jam, climbing to a great finish with some ace guitar work by the Wizard. In our opinion at WATLO HQ, this song and this version in this slot indicated the insurance adjusters were going to have to swing by the Riverside to assess the damage of the roof.

The band had a beautiful segway into Mercy. Originally released on Widespread Panic (Mom’s Kitchen) in 1991, it was first played April Fools Day the same year. This was the 307^th time played, and fourth time in 2025. The last time it was played more than 3 times in one year was 2016, almost an entire decade ago! It was played once in 2017, 2020, 2024, but exactly three times per year in 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, and 2023. What a treat! Sunny’s goat toes signified the beginning of the jam, starting at about 5:40. There was an extended goat toe jam accented with the wooden block. Dave got down and dirty, Jimmy beamed us into space, Sunny was rolling, Duane clashed about – top tier jamming – some of the best we’ve heard Panic execute in the entire year. Go Panic, go!!!!

Next up, a textbook Machine. Another instrumental – praise JBeeesus. This complicated energetic and delectable number almost always implies a Barstools. Let’s gooooooo! As expected the drop into Barstools was perfect. The bars may be where people’s dreams go to die, but in Milwaukee, everyone’s dreams came true, and then some! Around minute 6, Jimmy led the charge into a silky sultry jam, like smooth Tennessee whiskey. Every member was incredibly cohesive, it felt like they were in each other’s minds, knowing what was coming next. Jimmy really encouraged his bandmates to push themselves and rise up to the occasion. This clocked in as one of the longest Barstools of the year, and we may dare say the best. JB ad-libbed the baby jam a bit (11:53):

“Baby don’t know what I just said, baby don’t know what I just said. Baby hadn’t learned any words just yet. Babies hadn’t learned any words just yet. Ohhhhh just checking it off, ohhhhhh. Ohhhhhh that’s just next stop. Just checking it off. Awwww laaaaawd baby said, ‘what I get myself into now?’ People only talk, people only talk and think in words they already know. Baby don’t know any words yet. The dog and cat don’t know any words yet. Only know what the people feel. Ooooooh colors. The colors, colors, colors, around what the people feel. Really love the people. Only care what the people feel. Really love the people. Only care what the people feel.”

Upon scorching that rap, JB had another pull out of his stainless steel water bottle, which we are assuming was indeed chilly water, but we can’t be too sure. Next up was Little by Little, which they have played 12 out of 12 runs in 2025 and 22 times out of the last 21 consecutive tour stops. The last time they had a tour stop without playing Little by Little (LTNP) was the Wilmington 2023 run. With all the practice, they really have honed this one in and each member’s skills are showcased perfectly. JB released an epic “chiiiiiiiild” that lasted about 4 total seconds, took a breath and then wailed again. Jaws were on the ground.

Herring changed to a white solid body guitar, giving everyone about 30 seconds to take a sip of chilly water and cold beer. Duane and JB started off Vacation, which felt so incredibly special. They’ve only played it once so far in 2025 (3/23/25). Jojo’s keys sounded so pure, like ivory soap (even though they’re technically plastic). JB navigated back to his lullaby voice, hanging up the growl from LxL. If you aren’t brought to tears listening to this tune, you might want to check your pulse. JB was barely audible during “when Panic grabbed my leg” as the audience roared alongside the band. True fans can’t hear this song without thinking about Mikey, our original guitarist (Rest in Peace, Rise in Power: 1/6/62-8/10/02) and Jimmy executed his tone absolutely perfectly, you can especially hear Mikey’s signature tone mid-song around minute 4. It floored us completely and we felt his spirit emanating through every soul in the building. Schools crushed the backup vocals, and his bassline was thumping through the floor.

There was a microsecond pause, and the entire band threw down into Pigeons. This was a legendary rendition of the song. The roof was reported to be completely gone. Every single member was focused so hard, totally playing for keeps. At 7:15 the jam completely ripped. Rather than one long hawkish cry, JBeesus blessed us with five separate “aaaaaahhww”s he also inserted a “float about” during the remember how to fly rap (perhaps referencing the boat from Bowlegged the night before? Clearly he was inspired by the river and all the boats passing by the venue! At the very end of the song around minute 8:51 JB let out a “remembeaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhwwwwwwww” for a solid 10.1 seconds (we used a stopwatch). The judges scored this Pigeons a perfect 10.

Without time for a breath, the band ripped into Action Man. As mentioned in a previous recap, this song is about Man o’ War the horse who won the triple crown for first time. Around minute 4, listen for a JB-ism: “arms of war, balls of steel.”

After leaving everyone breathless, JB proudly said “thank you very much!” Four minutes later, the band took the stage again. Jimmy began the beautiful introduction to Little Wing. Sunny’s wind chimes were extraordinary in the intro! Originally recorded by Jimi Hendrix in 1967. We recommend the Derek and the Dominos version released on Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs in 1970 (thanks for the suggestion, Caitlin!). Panic executed this cover perfectly. The band first covered this song on 6/22/85 – over 40 years ago. It’s been played 72 total times, 9 of which happened AFTER Herring joined the band. The other 63 times were played between 6/22/85-7/1/89, just a few short years. We are so grateful Herring is our relentless wizard in the corner, gifting us this amazing song again after all these years.

JB kept his big guitar and Ain’t Life Grand brought us all the way home after an exceptional show. It’s amazing how they can get to the second song in the encore and still sound so powerful and fresh. It sounded as if this version could have been the opener. It shows how well they are taking care of themselves and having fun right now. The smiles across their faces all weekend said it all. Like kids in a candy store! JB said “I’m a child. Feels good.” Rather than “in my mind I was a child, and it felt good.” It pays to listen rather than to sing along (but lip syncing is allowed)! JB graciously bid us adieu, “Goodnight, ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much!”

What a freaking show! The energy leaving the venue was unbelievable. An absolute buzz emanated onto the street and down Wisconsin Ave into every hotel lobby. “What a show!!!!” could be heard for miles around the venue, said by fans with pupils wider than dinner plates. Thank you, Panic! Let’s go for the triple crown trifecta – never miss a Sunday show!