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WalshFan88
12-24-2010, 08:10 AM
Ok... So I've done a G'n'R thread. And I was looking to see if any of my other 'favorite bands' are without an appreciation thread. :hilarious: This one is the only "big one" I could not find a thread for.

So any Skynyrd fans in the house?! I'm really a fan of 70s Skynyrd. My favorite album is the Street Survivors album. It has 3 of my favorite songs of theirs on it. That Smell, What's Your Name, and You Got That Right. I prefer Steve Gaines over Ed King on the "3rd" guitar spot. It's Gary Rossington, Allen Collins, and Steve Gaines. My personal favorite guitarist in that band is Allen Collins. He was VERY underrated IMO and really the unsung guitar hero of that band.

My favorite Skynyrd songs are That Smell, What's Your Name, You Got That Right, Tuesday's Gone, Simple Man, Gimme Three Steps, Sweet Home Alabama, On The Hunt, I Ain't The One, Swamp Music, Working for MCA, Saturday Night Special, and Free Bird of course. My favorite song is a REALLY tough choice, but it's probably That Smell.

I really think (and this is just my opinion, take it with a grain of salt) that the new Lynyrd Skynyrd albums SUCK. They are going country, getting songwriters to write their material, etc. That's NOT what Ronnie Van Zant was about. Gary Rossington is the only member alive in the band. He keeps feeding off of the name, and making big bucks. Their new material isn't worth playing, and even though I've seen them live and MAY see them again in the future, I really don't like their new material OR the fact that Gary (and Johnny too) is making a killing off of RVZ and the original member's work. I still may go see them as I do like hearing their songs, but I won't be paying very much to do so. There used to be a rule that in order to tour under the name, there had to be three original members in the band. Gary is the only one now.

So here is a video of my favorite Skynyrd tune. I love the guitar licks in this one, it's a classic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQlCxE4z3u4

tequila girl
12-24-2010, 08:18 AM
Hey Austin, I'm ashamed to say i've never really listened to them very much..................but I LOVE Sweet Home Alabama :thumbsup:

WalshFan88
12-24-2010, 08:20 AM
Hey Austin, I'm ashamed to say i've never really listened to them very much..................but I LOVE Sweet Home Alabama :thumbsup:

And who HASN'T heard "Sweet Home Alabama"! :) Great song! If I was gonna suggest an album for you to listen to, I'd suggest their Greatest Hits album which has quite a few of their biggest known songs. They had a lot of great tunes, and a few so-so ones. I personally never liked the "Gimme Back My Bullets" album.

MikeA
12-24-2010, 08:46 AM
I was never a huge Skynyrd fan though I did like a few of their songs. Free Bird was almost an anthem and Sweet Home Alabama was easy on my ears.

I think it was back around 1998 or maybe 1999 that I was really into motorcycle touring. I had an old 1982 750cc Yamaha Virago and was a member of a Virago Motorcycle Owners group on Yahoo. We'd been looking for a place to meet up face to face as our membership was from all over the country and the only centralized ride-in happened to be down on a river park in Southern Missouri.

This turned out to be a southern Harley Davidson meet and man, were we some kind of out of place there withour Viragos <LOL>. It was for a good cause though. To raise money to make funds available for the recovery of abducted children. One thing I can say is that those Biker Dudes really know how to throw a party!

Lynyrd Skynyrd with Johnny VZ were to perform. They took the stage right after the wet tee shirt contest (a contest that was canceled and three of the contestants kicked out of the park....they let the puppies loose! and weren't supposed to because it was a ralley for children! Bad example <LOL>)

They played LOUD until 7:30 the next morning! LS really did know how to party. But it seemed that they got a lot better as the night progressed!

After I'd gone back to my tent, this guy came stumbling through the middle of our camp and almost fell into the fire. He was moving REALLY SLOW and couldn't keep his balance. He'd lost his motorcycle and had lost his tent and bedroll. And, he'd lost his wife. But he thought he was getting pretty close to finding them. A couple of us helped him through the camp away from our fire. About a half hour later (around 4 or 5am) I heard this woman scream! I guess our stumbling friend thought he had found his tent and crawled inside. It wasn't his. Saw the guy whose tent it was the next morning and he told me the guy was dosed to the gills (which I knew) and he felt sorry for him and just moved over and let him sleep with them!

The dosed guy lost his keys to his bike the night before and was up with bloodshot eyes and shakey hands trying to hotwire his bike. I presume it actually was his for no one was complaining about his cutting into their rides!

But Skynyrd played pretty much every song I'd ever heard them do and a lot that I didn't know. Gotta say that Johnny sounded an awful lot like Ronnie but it just somehow wasnt' the same.

WalshFan88
12-26-2010, 03:20 AM
Very cool Mike.

Johnny does sound a lot similar to Ronnie. But not the same. It's just not the same. I still go to their shows in Peoria/Springfield every now and then for entertainment when my parents go but it's not the same and I can say that even though I never saw the old Skynyrd live. Just comparing it to videos and the records from the 70s.

Brooke
12-27-2010, 11:59 AM
I like a lot of LS songs, but kinda feel like you, Austin. The new version just is NOT the original. I never saw either live. I really love Simple Man. That song just nearly brings me to tears every time. Of course Free Bird and Sweet Home Alabama are great, but they play them too much around here. We had those two songs in our top 100 cds in our cd player at home and it seemed that every time we played the cd player randomly, we'd get FB. Finally had to take it out of the player! :lol:

WalshFan88
12-30-2010, 06:56 AM
I like a lot of LS songs, but kinda feel like you, Austin. The new version just is NOT the original. I never saw either live. I really love Simple Man. That song just nearly brings me to tears every time. Of course Free Bird and Sweet Home Alabama are great, but they play them too much around here. We had those two songs in our top 100 cds in our cd player at home and it seemed that every time we played the cd player randomly, we'd get FB. Finally had to take it out of the player! :lol:

I agree about Free Bird. It's a GREAT song but it is overplayed. It's the one crowds always yell out. It's an anthem really. I burn out on overplayed songs but Hotel California, no matter how often it's played I never get tired of it. It's my favorite song and album of all time. It was a life-changer for me but in general, I get tired of overplayed songs. Stairway to Heaven is another. I change the channels when that comes on. Great song though.

But Skynyrd had a TON of great songs beside Free Bird. Sweet Home Alabama, Simple Man, Gimme Three Steps, That Smell, Tuesday's Gone, Needle and the Spoon, Saturday Night Special, What's Your Name, I Know A Little, I Ain't The One, On The Hunt, Swamp Music, The Ballad Of Curtis Loew, Call Me The Breeze, Workin' For MCA, Don't Ask Me No Questions, You Got That Right, Gimme Back My Bullets, All I Can Do Is Write About It, and Whiskey Rock-A Roller.

Those are all of the ones I can think of that I like off the top of my head! :rofl:

Eve
12-30-2010, 02:40 PM
FREE BIRD!!!!
The crowd would yell that out when my husbands band was playing bars years ago. And they would play it...

WalshFan88
12-31-2010, 09:43 AM
FREE BIRD!!!!
The crowd would yell that out when my husbands band was playing bars years ago. And they would play it...

We would too, before we were an Eagles tribute we were a Classic Rock cover band, and we would generally play it if we had everything set up for it (slide guitar) that night.

EaglesFanatic
01-01-2011, 02:48 AM
I love Skynyrd, one of my favorites! Some of my favorite songs are Saturday Night Special, That Smell, Simple Man, Free Bird, and Swamp Music. I like Sweet Home Alabama, but it's just really overplayed.

WalshFan88
01-02-2011, 09:41 AM
I love Skynyrd, one of my favorites! Some of my favorite songs are Saturday Night Special, That Smell, Simple Man, Free Bird, and Swamp Music. I like Sweet Home Alabama, but it's just really overplayed.

Yeah "Alabama" and "Free Bird" are really overplayed.

I really love That Smell. It's my personal favorite. That and Tuesday's Gone probably.

Prettymaid
01-02-2011, 03:44 PM
But Skynyrd had a TON of great songs beside Free Bird. Sweet Home Alabama, Simple Man, Gimme Three Steps, That Smell, Tuesday's Gone, Needle and the Spoon, Saturday Night Special, What's Your Name, I Know A Little, I Ain't The One, On The Hunt, Swamp Music, The Ballad Of Curtis Loew, Call Me The Breeze, Workin' For MCA, Don't Ask Me No Questions, You Got That Right, Gimme Back My Bullets, All I Can Do Is Write About It, and Whiskey Rock-A Roller.

Those are all of the ones I can think of that I like off the top of my head! :rofl:

You know what's so great about this site and sharing your favorite music? Some of these are so great I'm going to download them to my Ipod now!

WalshFan88
01-02-2011, 08:01 PM
You know what's so great about this site and sharing your favorite music? Some of these are so great I'm going to download them to my Ipod now!

Great!!! I love pretty much all of them. Some of them are overplayed and you burn out on them but they are all great songs. "Street Survivors" is my favorite Skynyrd album. It was the one that came out right before the plane crash.

WalshFan88
03-18-2011, 05:10 AM
I've been listening to a lot of Skynyrd lately and I've realized I have all of their DVDs except "Freebird the Movie" which is about the plane crash and their tour just before it. I want to get it but it looks like it isn't sold anymore in the US. I'm gonna have to do some eBaying I think!!!

Here's a little somethin' for you all today:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-SIbttHSg0

Jonny Come Lately
06-19-2016, 03:00 AM
Glad to see there's a Lynyrd Skynyrd thread here, I'm quite a big fan of them myself. They are my second favourite American band (wonder who number one could be? :wink:).

My favourite album would have to be Pronounced..., which is also my favourite debut album of all time (I even like it more than Led Zeppelin I). There are so many great songs on that record and no filler tracks, and I think it's unbelievably confident for a debut. I currently only own Pronounced, Second Helping and Street Survivors, but I really like almost all of the tracks on those three records. I'm still fairly new to the last one compared to the first two, but I like it a lot, especially the awesome That Smell.

My overall top ten songs at the time of writing would probably be:
Simple Man
Free Bird
That Smell
Sweet Home Alabama
The Ballad Of Curtis Loew
Tuesday's Gone
Gimme Three Steps
What's Your Name
Don't Ask Me No Questions
Things Goin' On

I have a couple of questions to ask, hope no one minds:

1) What do people make of Nuthin' Fancy and Gimme Back My Bullets? I'll probably end up getting them eventually anyway, but they definitely seem harder to find in the UK (in the Skynyrd sections of most music stores I visit, they usually have the three I've already got plus the compilations).

2) I have a question for Austin specifically - how do you tell which guitarist is playing which parts? I was talking about Skynyrd with my Dad (who is also a fan - I think he saw them twice in the 1970s before the plane crash) and it occurred to me that I although I absolutely love Skynyrd's guitars, I know very little about the guitarists, especially their playing style and preferred axe (especially compared to the Eagles, where I know what to listen out for and can tell Felder from Walsh or Glenn from Bernie etc.). Given that many of their songs have multiple guitar solos I'd really love to have some idea of who plays which parts, or at least be able to identify the likely player. Are there any solos or guitar parts which stand out as being particularly recognisable as Allen Collins, Gary Rossington or others? I know Allen and Gary played the Free Bird solos, but that is the extent of my current knowledge.

travlnman2
06-19-2016, 09:26 AM
Let's discuss post crash Skynyrd now obviously they are controversial but some of my favorite post Ronnie songs are
1.The Last Rebel
2.Still Unbroken
3.Gifted Hands
4.Smokestack Lighting
5.Mad Hatter
6.Last of A dying breed.

AlreadyGone95
06-19-2016, 12:09 PM
My favorite albums are Street Survivors and Second Helping. I've loved Skynyrd since I was born. It's almost a requirement of being a Southerner. My top 20 songs are: ( all are subject to change except #1)

1. That Smell
Call Me the Breeze
Red White and Blue
What's Your Name
Ballad of Curtis Loew
Saturday Night Special
Tuesday's Gone
Gimme Three Steps
Travelin' Man
Sweet Home Alabama
Four Walls of Raiford
Still Unbroken
You Got That Right
Workin' For MCA
I Know A Little
Whiskey Rock-a-Roller
Don't Ask Me No Questions
The Needle and The Spoon
Last of a Dyin' Breed
Freebird


I haven't listened to stuff with Johnny as much as I the stuff with Ronnie, but 3 of the songs feature his vocals ands Travelin' Man is a deut with them sharing co-lead vocals.

Jonny, I'm not as familiar with Nuthin' Fancy and Gimme Back My Bullets, but both are good albums.

Freebird has grown on me, but I much prefer other southern bands doing similar songs. ( See The Outlaws' Green Grass and High Tides and Blackfoot's Highway Song)

ETA: I just realized that I forgot Simple Man... Oops.

buffyfan145
06-19-2016, 03:46 PM
Love Lynyrd Skynyrd too!!! :D I agree with AG as my Mom's family Southern that it's like mandatory to like them. LOL Another group my whole family are fans of. Their music even makes me think of the last time I saw some of my Mom's side of the family in West Virginia as the only radio stations there played either country or Southern rock and Skynyrd was on almost all the time. LOL :lol:

LuvTim
06-19-2016, 04:56 PM
Yeah, I grew up in NC, and I have to agree with AG95! We all loved Skynyrd, and as far as I know, we all still do! :rockguitar:

WalshFan88
06-19-2016, 06:02 PM
I have a couple of questions to ask, hope no one minds:

1) What do people make of Nuthin' Fancy and Gimme Back My Bullets? I'll probably end up getting them eventually anyway, but they definitely seem harder to find in the UK (in the Skynyrd sections of most music stores I visit, they usually have the three I've already got plus the compilations).

2) I have a question for Austin specifically - how do you tell which guitarist is playing which parts? I was talking about Skynyrd with my Dad (who is also a fan - I think he saw them twice in the 1970s before the plane crash) and it occurred to me that I although I absolutely love Skynyrd's guitars, I know very little about the guitarists, especially their playing style and preferred axe (especially compared to the Eagles, where I know what to listen out for and can tell Felder from Walsh or Glenn from Bernie etc.). Given that many of their songs have multiple guitar solos I'd really love to have some idea of who plays which parts, or at least be able to identify the likely player. Are there any solos or guitar parts which stand out as being particularly recognisable as Allen Collins, Gary Rossington or others? I know Allen and Gary played the Free Bird solos, but that is the extent of my current knowledge.

Nuthin' Fancy is a GREAT record (it features On The Hunt which is so underrated)....I'm not a fan of Gimme Back My Bullets. The song and the record. It's the weakest of all of the original 70s output, IMO.

Normally I find that out by listening if it's a humbucker guitar (darker, warmer, heavier) or a single coil (brighter, twangier, wirey). Skynyrd had 3 guitarists, two of them used humbucker guitars, one of them single coil guitars. You can pick the different guitars apart, and therefore, the guitarist. Allen's guitar had humbuckers but was bassy and murky sounding. Gary's guitar which also had humbuckers had a bit more bite to it. And Ed/Steve's guitar was bright and twangy and was obvious.

Also if you watch old videos it becomes apparent who did what on the record. Allen played most of the Free Bird solo himself. Gary played slide. Ed played rhythm. The dueling bits at the end are Allen and Ed (IIRC).

Gary has always played the Les Paul except on Free Bird where he plays an SG. Both Gibson guitars.

Allen played a Firebird early on and then switched to the Explorer. Again, both Gibson guitars.

Ed King played a Strat (Fender) mostly and on songs like Free Bird, a Gibson SG.

Steve Gaines (who replaced Ed) played a Strat mostly and then a Les Paul for certain songs (like Free Bird).

To me the shining song for their "three guitar army" was That Smell. Everyone had a solo in that and the three guitar tones and styles are plain as day to me personally. That would have been Gary on the Les Paul, Allen on the Explorer, and Steve on the Strat. My favorite solo in the song has to be Steve's. Steve brought so much to the band and I prefer him over Ed. Steve brought the band "I Know A Little" and "Ain't No Good Life". Steve was a monster guitarist and so underrated.

travlnman2
06-19-2016, 06:17 PM
Walsh fan Steve and Ed were born on Exactly the same day. Ed also occasonly used a Les Paul on Nuthin Fancy ala Whisky Rock A Roller. Steve also brought You Got That Right,

Jonny Come Lately
06-20-2016, 05:03 AM
Nuthin' Fancy is a GREAT record (it features On The Hunt which is so underrated)....I'm not a fan of Gimme Back My Bullets. The song and the record. It's the weakest of all of the original 70s output, IMO.

Normally I find that out by listening if it's a humbucker guitar (darker, warmer, heavier) or a single coil (brighter, twangier, wirey). Skynyrd had 3 guitarists, two of them used humbucker guitars, one of them single coil guitars. You can pick the different guitars apart, and therefore, the guitarist. Allen's guitar had humbuckers but was bassy and murky sounding. Gary's guitar which also had humbuckers had a bit more bite to it. And Ed/Steve's guitar was bright and twangy and was obvious.

Also if you watch old videos it becomes apparent who did what on the record. Allen played most of the Free Bird solo himself. Gary played slide. Ed played rhythm. The dueling bits at the end are Allen and Ed (IIRC).

Gary has always played the Les Paul except on Free Bird where he plays an SG. Both Gibson guitars.

Allen played a Firebird early on and then switched to the Explorer. Again, both Gibson guitars.

Ed King played a Strat (Fender) mostly and on songs like Free Bird, a Gibson SG.

Steve Gaines (who replaced Ed) played a Strat mostly and then a Les Paul for certain songs (like Free Bird).

To me the shining song for their "three guitar army" was That Smell. Everyone had a solo in that and the three guitar tones and styles are plain as day to me personally. That would have been Gary on the Les Paul, Allen on the Explorer, and Steve on the Strat. My favorite solo in the song has to be Steve's. Steve brought so much to the band and I prefer him over Ed. Steve brought the band "I Know A Little" and "Ain't No Good Life". Steve was a monster guitarist and so underrated.

Thanks Austin, I knew you'd be able to help! That's absolutely great. Next time I listen to one of their albums I'll keep an ear out for the guitar sounds you mention. I'll be listening closely to the guitar solos on That Smell for sure as that seems like a good starting point. Thanks also to everyone else for the additional info! I'll probably listen to Nuthin' Fancy first before Bullets.

It's interesting to hear how massive they are in the south, as they definitely don't seem to be as big over here as they, at least in terms of general awareness. The only songs people other than rock fans seem to know in my experience are Sweet Home Alabama and Free Bird. I'm not really familiar with the band's music with Johnny VZ - funnily enough my Dad had no idea that the band had resumed, he'd always assumed they just ended after the tragedy in October 1977.

Annoying Twit
06-20-2016, 05:10 AM
Over five years after the OP. I know pretty much nothing of LS apart from SHA. I'll give 'Street Survivors' a listen today (it's on Spotify).

EDIT: Halfway through. It makes a great deal of sense for a Joe Walsh fan to enjoy this album :)

travlnman2
06-20-2016, 12:02 PM
Hey annoying twit how was the rest of SS? Listen to the rest I love Nothin Fancy and don't forget One More From The Road. If it weren't for the crash the RVZ era band could have become bigger then the Eagles.

Annoying Twit
06-20-2016, 01:52 PM
Hey annoying twit how was the rest of SS? Listen to the rest I love Nothin Fancy and don't forget One More From The Road. If it weren't for the crash the RVZ era band could have become bigger then the Eagles.

I was working so didn't get to listen to it with as much care as I'd like to have. However, it was good quality enjoyable southern rock. Actually, if I'd predicted what sort of music was on the album, I think I would have guessed. No one song jumped out as being as good as Sweet Home Alabama, at least not on the first listening. But, not many songs in the whole world are as good as SHA.

I definitely enjoyed the album.

WalshFan88
06-20-2016, 02:22 PM
Street Survivors is my favorite LS album... I prefer the lineup with Steve instead of Ed on guitar.

I have an original copy with the flames (before they changed it) with an insert for a free tshirt and the tour dates they were supposed to go on before they crashed. It's a prized possession of mine, no doubt.

AlreadyGone95
06-20-2016, 03:31 PM
Street Survivors is my favorite LS album... I prefer the lineup with Steve instead of Ed on guitar.

I have an original copy with the flames (before they changed it) with an insert for a free tshirt and the tour dates they were supposed to go on before they crashed. It's a prized possession of mine, no doubt.

I have my dad's copy of that album with the flames and tour date info. I love it, but it being my dad's copy makes it even more special.

travlnman2
06-20-2016, 08:20 PM
I have my dad's copy of that album with the flames and tour date info. I love it, but it being my dad's copy makes it even more special.

Same but I bought it. 35 bucks

buffyfan145
06-24-2016, 08:45 PM
Just saw a biopic is in the works called "Freebird" and it'll actually be co-written and produced by drummer Artimus Pyle who survived the plane crash. It's also supposed to cover his friendship with Ronnie too and casting looks to be underway with filming starting later this summer. Sounds like they're hoping for a release date next year.

http://www.ew.com/article/2016/06/24/lynyrd-skynyrd-artimus-pyle-freebird-film

Seems to be a trend going on with Classic Rock biopic films coming as there were already two in development about Beatles manager Brian Epstein and last week one got announced about The Rolling Stones set during the making of "Exile on Main Street".

buffyfan145
08-15-2016, 10:11 AM
Cameron Crowe did just a great tribute to Lynyrd Skynyrd last night in the latest episode of his show "Roadies"!!! :D All the characters spent the whole episode on a bus ride so the Phil character (Ron White) finally told them the story of how he met Ronnie and started touring with the band and we got to see the flashbacks. It was such a great episode and the actor who played Ronnie did a great job. Some of the stories were true and they used footage from actual Skynyrd concerts, but Cameron did also write in that story of what happened with Irving and the Eagles with the drugs at the airport but made it about Phil instead. The relationship Cameron wrote about Ronnie & Phil felt so much like how he wrote Russell & William's in "Almost Famous" and we know that was based off Cameron & Glenn's real life friendship, so when Phil talked about Ronnie dying and how hard it was to lose one of his close friends & mentors it hit me that I think Cameron was also talking about Glenn and I got teary eyed. It was such a great episode. :applause:

UndertheWire
08-15-2016, 01:12 PM
I don't know a lot about Lynyrd Skynyrd (apart from the plane crash and the two most famous songs), but I enjoyed it. They were more convincing than Vinyl's "Led Zeppelin" and I loved the swagger as they walked out of a hotel together.

I made the Eagles connection with the customs, although I'm sure every band had its own customs story.

travlnman2
08-15-2016, 01:29 PM
Fun Fact. The song That Smell uses the same drum beat as One Of These Nights

Jonny Come Lately
10-20-2016, 04:16 AM
On a solemn note, today marks 39 years since one of the blackest days in the history of rock and roll. This being the terrible plane crash on 20th October 1977 that cost the lives of the Convair CV-240 pilot Walter McCreary, co-pilot William Gray, assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, backing vocalist Cassie Gaines and most tragically of all, the great Steve Gaines and Ronnie van Zant. :sad:

I always think about Skynyrd on this day and I always like to play some of their music in their memory as close to the anniversary of the crash as possible. I plan on doing a shuffle playlist which I'll post elsewhere (I'll probably do it at the weekend when I have more time).

Brooke
10-20-2016, 10:37 AM
JCL, a sad day for Lynyrd Skynyrd fans for sure. I think it's amazing that they have managed to carry on and be as good as before. Nearly anyway.

Jonny Come Lately
10-20-2016, 06:07 PM
To be honest I've only really listened to the Ronnie era, but I think it's great that they've kept the band's name and music alive despite all the tragedies that have impacted on them over the years. It's not often that I say that, as I think it is important to go out at the right moment and not damage your legacy, and there are some bands that should just leave it be because they just aren't unable for whatever reason to recapture the old magic, but as Skynyrd was cut short in its prime this is one case where I think the revival was the right thing to do, even if it's not quite as great as the halcyon days of the 1970s.

I was talking about Skynyrd with my Dad a couple of months ago (it was around my birthday because that was when I got Nuthin' Fancy along with Pronounced... on CD). I knew he'd been to see them live at least once but he could never remember know when he'd seen them, but when I last asked he was pretty sure he went to see them on the Nuthin' Fancy tour. The songs he remembers most hearing live tend to be the ones from Pronounced though - Simple Man, Free Bird, Tuesday's Gone etc.

thelastresort
07-01-2019, 05:26 PM
I went to see Skynyrd at their 'final' UK show (until the money dries up presumably) last night. They were utterly exceptional. It was a pretty standard greatest hits set, which fortunately included my favourites (Ballad of Curtis Loew, Don't Ask Me No Questions and Tuesday's Gone) in addition to the tried and tested staples everyone goes along to hear (you know them...); even songs which I like but I'm not massive on (Workin' for MCA, That Smell) were enjoyable.

The band themselves, from JVZ's frontman skills to the eccentric keys courtesy of Peter Keys, the rhythm section and the Honkettes were on fire; but by far and away the most magical element though was the formidable trio of guitarists, particularly Medlocke and Rossington, leading the line. Seeing the four guitarists plus Johnny stand almost perfectly still next to each other whilst playing a rhythm break in Free Bird, mic stand adorned with the US flag and Ronnie's famous headwear, was as breathtaking and iconic as any other moment I have seen on stage in a concert; equally endearing was just how much of their set and screen show was dedicated to their fallen comrades, from the famous ones tragically taken in the 70s to those who played little more than a tour with them. Rickey Medlocke has long been my favourite member of Skynyrd and probably my favourite Southern Rock musician, so just to see him at all, complete with trademark tattoos and Gibson Explorer, was enough!

I will also give a shoutout to the two support acts, up-and-coming hard rockers Massive Wagons (from my home county for good measure!) and the most stellar of all British rock, Status Quo. Having seen some truly awful support acts in my time, it was wonderful to say both were worthy accompaniments to the main act.

sodascouts
07-02-2019, 01:17 PM
I went to see Skynyrd at their 'final' UK show (until the money dries up presumably) last night. They were utterly exceptional. It was a pretty standard greatest hits set, which fortunately included my favourites (Ballad of Curtis Loew, Don't Ask Me No Questions and Tuesday's Gone) in addition to the tried and tested staples everyone goes along to hear (you know them...); even songs which I like but I'm not massive on (Workin' for MCA, That Smell) were enjoyable.

The band themselves, from JVZ's frontman skills to the eccentric keys courtesy of Peter Keys, the rhythm section and the Honkettes were on fire; but by far and away the most magical element though was the formidable trio of guitarists, particularly Medlocke and Rossington, leading the line. Seeing the four guitarists plus Johnny stand almost perfectly still next to each other whilst playing a rhythm break in Free Bird, mic stand adorned with the US flag and Ronnie's famous headwear, was as breathtaking and iconic as any other moment I have seen on stage in a concert; equally endearing was just how much of their set and screen show was dedicated to their fallen comrades, from the famous ones tragically taken in the 70s to those who played little more than a tour with them. Rickey Medlocke has long been my favourite member of Skynyrd and probably my favourite Southern Rock musician, so just to see him at all, complete with trademark tattoos and Gibson Explorer, was enough!

I will also give a shoutout to the two support acts, up-and-coming hard rockers Massive Wagons (from my home county for good measure!) and the most stellar of all British rock, Status Quo. Having seen some truly awful support acts in my time, it was wonderful to say both were worthy accompaniments to the main act.

I bet it meant a lot to be there on their last night!

Brooke
07-02-2019, 01:36 PM
Thanks for that awesome review, thelastresort! Sounds like it was a fantastic show!

I hope to see them someday!

And usually, if the lead singer is gone, I don't care much about a band anymore, but in this case, I've always loved them!

Ive always been a dreamer
07-02-2019, 08:36 PM
Thanks for the review, tlr. Sounds like a very cool show.

WalshFan88
07-07-2019, 01:52 AM
Awesome TLR. I saw them on this farewell tour last year and it was an excellent show. Rickey is a hoot!