In their usual unassuming manner, the six men of Widespread Panic headed onto the stage and quickly dove into “Send Your Mind.”

The fans at Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park immediately roared their approval, but who knows whether their cheers were directed at the song choice or merely a celebration of seeing the Athens-based band plugged in again.

After taking a break from touring – save a handful of completely unplugged shows last year – Panic is back, and on Friday (and again Saturday), they’re playing just outside metro Atlanta, the city that most of them refer to as a musical “home.”

About 30 minutes before Friday’s two-set show that spanned more than 2 ½-hours, Panic bassist Dave Schools hung in a backstage dressing room, already wearing his stage attire of black Goat Soup & Whiskey T-shirt – a gift from the Colorado tavern – and jeans, clutching a pack of Marlboros and a lighter in one hand.

“The cool thing about taking that time off is that there are opportunities for new things to happen. We’ve been on the road for 27 years. We’re leading two lives – one on the road and one at home. So it’s good to step back every now and then,” said Schools, a bear of a man with the demeanor of a kitten.

Schools spent some of his Panic hiatus working with Mickey Hart – “a neighbor and a friend” in northern California, where the Richmond-reared bassist has lived since 2008 – and joining Bob Weir for his weekly “Weir Here” live Internet show.

But now Schools says, “I am happy being on the road. After awhile, it’s what we do.”

Or, as their gregarious co-manager and agent Buck Williams put it, “They love to get on the road and they love to get off the road.”

If Friday’s show was evidence, they mostly just love to play.

Though their onstage demeanor doesn’t move too much beyond stoic, Panic’s guitarist/singer John Bell, drummer Todd Nance, percussionist Sunny Ortiz, keyboardist  JoJo Hermann, guitarist Jimmy Herring and Schools share plenty of grins and looks when wrapped deep in a song.

You saw it during the cranked-up “Flicker”; throughout Herring’s neat and nimble solo on “C. Brown”; and at times when Hermann unveiled a killer keyboard segment in “Tail Dragger.”

And, of course, during their patented jams.

Panic has elevated the production element of its live show, adding a double horseshoe of lights surrounding a circular video screen that mostly projected psychedelic colors and images for the spirited, young-leaning crowd to absorb.

“We think it’s important to keep up with our peers,” Williams said. “Since the band is working a little less, we had to go up a little on the ticket price so we want to give a little more of a show. But Panic is so much more of a happening than a SHOW, show.”

Schools, who shared vocals on the first set-closer, “Chainsaw City,” was a bit more nonchalant about the onstage ornaments.

“I don’t really care about the visual stuff,” he said. “But since it’s a necessity, we might as well make it the best we can – as long as it doesn’t distract us.”

It’s a good thing Ortiz was wearing his sunglasses as he laid some impeccable percussion touches onto “Up All Night,” because the brilliant amber lights shooting from the structure could cause you to squint from 100 yards away.

Fans planning to attend Saturday’s show already know what to expect – nothing that Panic played on Friday, including second set offerings “Bust it Big,” “Machine,” “Driving Song” and “Sell, Sell.”

Schools – who said he makes sure to visit Fox Brothers BBQ and Alfredo’s Italian restaurant whenever he’s in town – confirmed that, “It will be a completely different show.” He also mentioned that the band is working on some new material but, “we haven’t gotten the dander off to bring them onstage yet.”

And for those Panic fans wondering if the band will return to Atlanta for another New Year’s Eve gig at Philips Arena, well, Williams wasn’t showing his hand yet, but did allow, with a wink in his voice and a smile on his face, “I know when they’re coming back to Atlanta.”

(Check out our gallery of photos from Friday's show.)

Widespread Panic performs again at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park. $47. www.ticketmaster.com.