Occasional Jams Occur Amid Widespread Panic

The song still matters. For all the emphasis on “jamming,” the improvisational rock of Widespread Panic remains best served when beginning with a well-crafted song. Everything else is mush.

The six-piece group from Georgia remains better than most of the vague “jam-band” genre, finding sly riffs and real dynamics in a wide variety of originals and cover songs. But at the first of two nights at the Wiltern Theatre on Friday, Widespread Panic just as frequently got lost amid weaker material.

Improvisation for this rock-boogie group is not nearly on the emotional level of bop instrumentalists like Miles or Coltrane. Most of the passion Friday seemed to come from the Wiltern’s teeming masses, as the balcony overhead shook noticeably from nonstop dancing.

Songs were always stretched out, but it helped that lead guitarist Michael Houser is apparently not deeply infected by the fusion bug, but is a steady rock player. Sitting beside his amplifiers, he sounded like a committed student of classic rock guitar moves, more Duane Allman than aimless noodler.

One surprising misstep was the band’s mid-tempo cover of J.J. Cale’s sultry “Ride Me High,” which had the players working at cross-purposes, lacking dynamics or clear direction, and blending into unsatisfying clutter. Even the dancing stopped.