I hear them just outside my motel room door, and I know... Spreadheads!

At the Rainbow Motel, three easy-going southern dudes stand around drinking and smoking bud on a rainy afternoon in Bozeman, Montana, getting ready for tonight's show. These boys are experienced in the art of partying and know how to time their buzz just right. They have followed the tour for the past ten days and have the party routine down to a science. In four hours, they will be primed for a psychedelic journey into the dark, hypnotic throws of a big time rock concert.

Really, the perfect buzz for a WSP show is one that leads you spinning, open-eyed toward center stage just as the music kicks in. Whether you're on booze, drugs, pot, coffee, or just high on life, you are drawn into this band's energy. You know they are going to rock. At these bigger, arena sized venues it is good to be as close as possible to the center of the stage. This is where it sounds best. Out on the fringe the sound is "boomy" and you can't understand the lyrics.

All-in-all, the Bozeman concert was predictably good, though fans who had been to the previous shows in California and Washington, described it as, "ehhhhh." John Bell, the band's front man, is a hell of a song writer using classic irony to deepen his songs. And the band is perfectly suited to back up his words with dynamic and percussive southern rock swells.

Out of Athens, GA, WSP are on the road 250 days of the year and spend two months each year recording new material, keeping it fresh.

Recently the band jammed with Trey Anastasio (Phish) at the Greek in Berkeley, and with Carlos Santana in Seattle. And on this night in Bozeman, MT, they brought up Jerry Joseph, a regional guitar hero out here in the Rocky Mountains.

Jerry got on stage and energized the mix. He loosened up the band while unleashing some instictually improvisational jams. We heard some of his great original songs like "Light Is Like Water" and "Road to Damascus." After a few tunes, he broke a string and went into a long, 20 minute, one chord jam, and then bowed out to a 20 minute long drums in space. (Too much undirected space for my liking; rock guitar exibitionism.)

According to a loyal follower, the band plays clean. No drugs. "John might sip a little whiskey now and then", he said. "Jerry is also clean; inspired by sobriety." Many of the fans around me at the show appear to be fairly sober minded; high on life.

Gotta love getting together with all of these good people for a night of music and party in search of the perfect buzz. Thumbs up for WSP on this night.

Check out the band at www.widespreadpanic.com, and check out set lists from previous shows at www.everydaycompanion.com.