Once upon a time (actually, 2001) when Synthesis.net was first standing to make a name for itself in the internet game, one of our correspondents, the lovely Laney Erokan wrote a review of a Dave Matthews show in Las Vegas that featured some hippie band named Widespread Panic as openers. She wasn’t exactly feeling Widespread Panic, writing in her review:

if I could think of any word worse than “suck” to describe a band I would use it. Macy Gray also opened and for some reason she played before Widespread Panic (bad decision), so we missed Macy instead of missing Widespread Panic and had to sit through an hour of shite…long, drawn-out jams, barely any vox and just plain boring music. The only thing that kept us entertained through the hour of crap was the hippies on ecstasy

Big deal, right? I mean, so what if someone writing for some shitty website doesn’t like a band, especially one that already has a solid enough fan base. You would think it wouldn’t be a big deal, but no, all of a sudden cyber hippies were coming out of the woodwork, e-mailing us all sorts of vulgar comments and even threats of violence. Peace and love apparently go out the window when Widespread Panic is involved.

I bring this up as a warning to budding music journalists out there, as the band is set to embark upon a summer tour, including a stop at this year’s Bonnaroo Music Festival. DON’T TALK SHIT ABOUT WIDEPSREAD PANIC! You might find your prize race horse’s head laying next to you in your bed the next morning…

Dates after the jump

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Though her recent albums have been pretty awful, Liz Phair’s Exile in Guyville still stands the test of time. To celebrate its 15th anniversary, Dave Matthews’s ATO Records is releasing a special edition of the landmark, out of print album with four unreleased B-sides and a DVD, Guyville Redux, a 60-minute making-of documentary.  Guyville Redux will also feature an introduction by Matthews and look at the early ’90s Chicago indie music scene that also featured bands such as Urge Overkill and Smashing Pumpkins. Phair herself interviews local rock luminaries such as super producer Steve Albini and Matador Records‘ Gerard Cosloy and Chris Lombardi as well as actor John Cusack and NPR’s Ira Glass.

The Guyville reissue will be out June 24th and will prelude Phair’s new studio album, which purports to see the songwriter getting back into “the DIY spirit” (we’ll have to wait and see), this fall.