Boston's premier cold-weather concert venue, The Orpheum, played host to a two-night stand of one of hottest and most popular southern rock jam-band institutions, Widespread Panic. Hailing from Georgia and exhibiting heavy percussion throughout the night in both their acoustic and electric sets, it is appropriate to compare these guys musically to the Allman Brothers Band without the dueling guitars. Formed in 1985, Widespread Panic has been amassing a huge touring fanbase ever since. Tragedy struck when their guitarist Michael Houser lost a battle with cancer, yet the band played on with replacement George McConnell. They are currently touring in support of their newly released album "Ball," the first album since Housers' passing.

The first set of the night was entirely acoustic, bringing mixed sentiment from the fans. For those who frequent Panic shows, this was a rare treat as they fluidly delivered a multitude of covers including The Band's "Ophelia," Talking Heads' "City of Dreams" and Cat Stevens' "Trouble." The first set also included the debut of "Fishing," which can be found on their new album, "Ball." Some fans grew restless without the advent of electricity, but they would be appeased in mere moments by their second set.

They did exhibit different styles at times. There were some Dead-like riffs and spacey, spooky other-worldly pockets and even a little jazz. But these moments were few and far between; the predominant mode was of hard percussion and bass with classic southern guitars. Most enjoyable was the drum session that followed their most spacey jam. Percussionist Domingo S. Ortiz played the conga drums for what seemed like ages, exhibiting five or six different themes, each of which came to a head. After a long spotlight session, he was joined by drummer Todd Nance, who added yet another dimension to the marathon drum session.

I'd be lying if I said that there was even one song that stood out in their set; they all seemed to mesh together into a comfortable evening of cutting edge southern rock. What does stand out above all is the gravely, presumably smoke-torn voice of guitarist John Bell. Although this may not sound like the most sensual of singing voices, it quickly grows on you as he summons emotions from deep within and echoes his lyrics off the neoclassical painted walls of the theater.

Widespread Panic isn't done with us yet; they will be playing Jazzfest in New Orleans this spring, and during their summer tour they will also be headlining the Hobstock Festival in Grenada, Miss., the Mid-Atlantic Music Experience in Lewisburg, W.V., and the 10,000 Lakes Festival in Detroit Lakes, Minn. They are also featured performers at Bonnaroo in Manchester, Tenn., where they are suddenly not the big name in attendance -- The Allman Brothers Band and The Grateful Dead will be playing as well.