After just last week announcing a first-ever all-acoustic tour for 2012, Widespread Panic has endured a week of tragedy.

On Saturday night, an intoxicated fan fell over a banister and dropped 15 feet to the marble floor of the Chicago Theatre during the band’s show at the venue. The man hit his head as a result of the fall, and as of Monday was listed in critical condition at Chicago’s Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he was transported immediately following the incident. The man was 26-years-old and police have said that the fall appears to have been accidental.

In other sad news for the band, one of its bus drivers passed away at the wheel of one of the crew buses on October 27 as the result of a heart attack. Tom Torrisi was on his way to Ames, Iowa with other members of the crew when he suffered the fatal heart attack while driving on I-35 N. Merchandise manager Rachel Kellenberger took control of the bus after it veered off the highway and brought it to a stop in the median. One of the other members of the crew was treated for head injuries after being thrown from his bunk, but no other injuries were reported.

The band issued the following statement about Torrisi on its website:

In the midst of our shock and sorrow, we’re extremely proud of the whole crew in the way they looked after Mr. Torrisi and each other during the incident. Tom was Widespread Panic family, a good soul, funny hearted and well respected.

The acoustic tour, known as the “Wood Tour,” will begin on January 24, 2012 in Silver Spring, Md. and will continue through February 19. These will be the last dates Panic plays before taking a hiatus for the rest of 2012. The band has also announced that its annual New Year’s Eve show will be held in Charlotte, N.C. this year.

Widespread Panic will embark on its first ever all-acoustic tour early in 2012. Being called the “Wood Tour,” the shows will mark the final shows before the band goes on hiatus for the remainder of 2012.

The tour, which begins January 24 in Silver Spring, MD will continue through February 19 in Aspen. In the middle of the 11-date tour, the band will travel to Mexico for the first time, playing five all-electric shows at the Now Sapphire Resort in Puerto Morelos, Mexico. All of the stops on the acoustic tour will feature three night-stands in each city. Other than Silver Spring and Aspen, the band also will play Atlanta and Denver.

Currently, the band is in the midst of an all-electric tour of the United States that will take end in Chicago on Halloween night. Additionally, the band will play a New Year’s Eve show at the Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte. The current tour is celebrating 25 years since the inception of the band in Athens, Ga. in 1986.

Keyboardist Jojo Herman announced the hiatus in 2010. He told the Vanderbilt Hustler at the time,“Next year will be our 25^th anniversary. After that we’re probably going to call it (quits) for a while. So we’re looking forward to next year and going out on a high note.”

The band’s more recent record, Dirty Side Down, also was released in 2010. Released on May 25 of that year, the record was the 11^th studio album released by the band. Since that time, the band also released an official live album, Live at the Classic City II. Recorded in the band’s hometown of Athens, Ga. in April 2010, the release was a double album containing 18 songs, including covers of songs by J.J. Cale and fellow Athenian, the late Vic Chestnutt.

The Widespread Panic tour suddenly became more widespread. The band has beefed up their routing and have new gigs for June as well as July planned.

New shows for June include Dallas on June 17 at Gexa Energy Pavilion ; Tulsa, OK on June 10 at BOK Center; Taos, NM on June 22 in Kit Carson Park and three nights in Red Rocks Amphitheater in Denver on June 24-26.

However Denver isn’t Widespread Panic’s only upcoming three nighter. The band will be kicking July off for a run of three nights at Grand Targhee Resort in Alta, WY on July 1-3. Additional July shows include July 5 at Paramount Theatre in Seattle and a two night stand on July 8-9 at Fox Theatre in Oakland, CA. Other two night stands include July 13-14 at The Wiltern in Los Angeles and July 15-18 at the Hard Rock’s The Joint in Las Vegas.

Presales as well as general onsales will start this week. More information can be found at WidespreadPanic.com.

This winter as well as spring, Widespread Panic will be spending time on the road, stopping in auditoriums and theaters across the eastern part of the U.S. as they continue to support “Dirty Side Down,” their release from last year.

The jam band is venturing out for three gigs in February, starting with a two night stand in Athens, GA (their hometown) on February 10 and 11. The event will be celebrating the 25th anniversary of Widespread Panic. The band’s website will include a simulcast of the shows.

The group in April will kick off an outing of two weeks with shows in Louisville, KY on April 1-2. The trek will wrap up in Chillicothe, IL on May 27-29 at the Summer Camp’s 11th annual festival.

Last May, “Dirty Side Down” was released by Widespread Panic on Widespread Records, their own record label.

Not a lot of music acts are able to stay together for more than a decade, more so 25 years, but jam band from the south Widespread Panic are one of the few bands to have managed to stretch themselves this far and this long, without stretching themselves too thin.

In an interview with Billboard.com, band bassist Dave Schools says that there will be a lot of celebrating to do and in store for 2011.  “I plan to do a lot of celebrating…Twenty-five years is kind of a milestone to keep a band together through all the things we’ve been through. We’ve never had a chance to sit back and go, ‘God, there’s a lot of gigs under the belt.’ So it’ll be a good time to go, ‘OK guys, we’ve made it a lot farther than anyone could have imagined’ … and take a good, hard look at how we can take this further, how we can continue to evolve as a group of people, not only musically but spiritually and hopefully in a positive way,” the bassist explained.

He also hinted that while a new album may not be in the works anytime soon since their current release “Dirty Side Down” is barely a year old, a documentary release is on the way for next year which features new video of the band filmed in New Orleans on Halloween and other old footages.  More tour dates will also welcome the band and their fans for next year.

Meanwhile, Schools will have to divide his attention between the upcoming celebrations and on-the-road jams for Widespread Panic and for his side project Stockholm Syndrome, who will also be hitting the pavement in February for a slew of west coast stops in support of their second set, “Apollo”.

Widespread Panic, the veteran jam band, has mapped out their summer concert itinerary following their appearance to close out Bonnaroo festival.

Recently the band was shifted into a headlining position for the festival’s June 15 final day in Manchester, TN after Jack Johnson, the original headliner for the day, was switched to the prior day due to The Allman Brothers having to cancel their appearance in order for Gregg Allman to continue his recovery from treatments for hepatitis C.  Widespread Panic, after their festival gig, will be kicking off an engagement of three days in Los Angeles starting June 20.

On their summer run the Athens, GA- based group band will visit 17 cities, including their first visit to Canada in over a decade, beginning in Toronto on June 5.  They will then perform at Ottawa Bluesfest on July 6.

Widespread Panic is touring in support of their tenth studio album, “Free Somehow,” the follow-up to “Earth to America” (2006).  They recorded their new disc in Nassau, Bahamas.  Terry Manning, the legendary studio producer (Jimmy Buffett, ZZ Top) produced the new album as well as their previous one.

The new album will be released in February.  It will be the first release from the group since Jimmy Herring replaced the late George McConnell as the band’s guitarist last fall. Following the death of Michael Houser, founding member due to cancer, McConnell joined the band in 2002.

Recently Widespread Panic released the set “Driving Songs Vol II,” available at an exclusive download site.  The set is available as a CD or download.  Thirty three songs are featured on the set, with each one coming from one stop on their 2007 fall tour.  Songs include covers of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” and “Werewolves of London” from Warren Zevon.

Organizers of the first Rothbury Musical Festival to be held this summer have announced  their lineup, which includes a wide variety of acts that are led by Widespread Panic, the Dave Matthews Band and Snoop Dogg.

The outdoor festival will take place over four days at Double JJ Ranch in Rothbury, MI on July 3-6.  According to the promoters of the event, Double JJ Ranch offers beach fronts, lakes, fields, forests, trails, on-site lodging, eateries and bars.  The eclectic lineup ranges from jam bands, including Phil Lesh & Friends and Sound Tribe Sector 9, to avant-garde pop groups such as The Dresden Dolls and Of Montreal to the southern rockers Gov’t Mule and Drive-By Truckers.

Currently the confirmed lineup also includes Spearhead, Michael Franti, Thievery Corporation, Primus, John Mayer, Modest Mouse and 311 among others.  Promoters are expecting to add additional acts to the lineup over the upcoming months.

On February 27 tickets for the festival will be going on sale via the festival’s website.

According to a recent press release, the stated goal of the festival is to raise awareness of clean energy alternatives and climate change.  The event will be hosting an energy fair and think tank during the event.

Dr. Stephen H. Schneider, Stanford professor, will be hosting the think tank.  Several alternative energy experts will be featured.  According to the Rothbury festival organizers, the energy fair will provide festival attendees with the opportunity for hands-on experience with cutting edge sustainable energy products and technology.

During the event Rothbury will also be showcasing sustainable practices including composting, recycling, Green Ticket options carbon offsetting and choosing clean energy.

Legendary jam band Widespread Panic has just announced today the details of their forthcoming tour in support of their fall release, the much awaited “Live in the Classic City II” album.

John Bell and the rest of Panic will be performing songs from the live album on a tour that will span 30 performances in 21 cities over the course of one and a half months coming next season. The trek includes multiple engagements such as two-nighters in Alpharetta in September, and Milwaukee and Reno in mid-October.

The band is also slated to perform for three straight nights in Nashville from October 4 to 6, Oakland from October 15 to 17, and finally in New Orleans from October 29 to 31 which also marks the band’s last set of performances for the tour. The tour will begin on September 17 with a show in Morgantown, WV.

“Live in the Classic City II” is a compilation of all the songs the band performed during their three day hometown gig in Athens, GA on April 1 to 3, 2000 dubbed as “Live in the Classic City”. The album marks the first time that the live tracks will be released in the market as the band implemented a strict “no recording” rule for all three shows, which they don’t normally do when they perform in front of a live audience.

The live album will hit stores on September 28.

Summer tour dates have been announced by Widespread Panic, Southern jam rockers, to support “Dirty Side Down,” the band’s new studio album which will be released late next month.

Currently, the band is wrapping up their spring itinerary, which will continue on April 29 with their New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival appearance. They will be kicking off their summer trek in Morrison, CO on June 25-27. The outing will stretch through July and wrap up in Charlotte, NC on July 30-31.

The 11th studio album from the band, “Dirty Side Down,” is set to be released to stores on May 25. The band recorded their new set in Athens, GA along with John Keane (Cowboy Junkies, R.E.M.), longtime Widespread Panic collaborator and producer. The set features a cover of “This Cruel Thing,” a previously unreleased song from the deceased Vic Chesnutt.

In a statement John Bell, leader singer, said I guess Vic and Widespread Panic aren’t done quite yet with each other. The band as a side project recorded two sets with Chesnutt, “Nine High a Pallet” in 1995 and “Co-Balt” in 2002.

Currently two songs from their upcoming album “North,” along will the title track, are streaming from Widespread Panic’s website.

Widspread Panic recorded their previous album from 2008, “Free Somehow,” in Nassau, Bahama. It reunited the band with Terry Manning (Jimmy Buffett, ZZ Top), the legendary producer.

2010 Widespread Panic Concert Tour
April 2010
29 – New Orleans, LA – New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
30 – Memphis, TN – Memphis in May Festival??May 2010?1 – Tulsa, OK – BOK Center?4 – Chattanooga, TN – Memorial Auditorium?5 – Greenville, SC – Bi-Lo Center?7, 8 – Orange Beach, AL – The Wharf?
June 2010
5 – Ozark, AR – Wakarusa Music Festival
25-27 – Morrison, CO – Red Rocks Amphitheatre
29 – Eugene, OR – Cuthbert Amphitheatre
30 – Seattle, WA – Paramount Theatre

July 2010
2 – Quincy, CA – High Sierra Music Festival
3 – Boise, ID – Botanical Gardens
6, 7 – Omaha, NE – Orpheum Theatre
9 – Louisville, KY – Forecastle Festival
10 – Masontown, WV – All Good Music Festival
13 – Columbus, OH – Lifestyle Communities Pavilion
15-17 – Chicago, IL – Chicago Theatre
20 – Philadelphia, PA – Tower Theatre
22 – New York, NY – Radio City Music Hall
23 – Danbury, CT – Ives Concert Park
24 – Boston, MA – Bank of America Pavilion
30, 31 – Charlotte, NC – Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre

According to a recent press release, on Wednesday October 7 Live Nation, the concert promoter, will be offering a gigantic, one day only fall sale for 200,000 concerts tickets of over 350 club shows from 29 different venues.

Two for one tickets can be snagged by concert goers for shows from an array of artists, including Mario, Trey Songz, The Bravery, The Used, Hanson, Colbie Caillat, Blues Traveler, Jewel, Moby and Paramore.   In addition, Widespread Panic, Train, Shinedown, Sean Kingston, Saosin, Rusted Roots, Regina Spektor, Pitbull, Ozomatli, Misfits, Matisyahu, LMFAO and others can also be purchased for shows at The Fillmore and House of Blues.

The super sale will last for 24 hours, starting at midnight at the website for Live Nation.  It will feature discounts that are fifty percent off for the total price as well as fees for tickets that are purchased in twos.  Reserved, general admission and lawn tickets are all subject to availability for select shows and participating venues.