With the dust and the haze of the decades cleared, it’s now apparent that
Lynyrd Skynyrd in their original configuration were one of the greatest rock bands to come out of the South, or anywhere in America for that matter, and the band’s legacy, based around classic songs like “Sweet Home Alabama” and the iconic, ever-unwinding “Free Bird,” is assured.
Skynyrd were also one of the most haunted of American bands as well, and the litany of deceased members is a long one -- original lead singer
Ronnie Van Zant and guitarist
Steve Gaines died in 1977, guitarist
Allen Collins died in 1990, bassist
Leon Wilkeson died in 2001, replacement bassist
Ean Evans died in 2009, as did keyboardist
Billy Powell. The group that currently tours and records as
Lynyrd Skynyrd features only one original member, guitarist
Gary Rossington, with
Ronnie's brother
Johnny Van Zant handling lead vocals and former
Blackfoot frontman
Rickey Medlocke heading up the guitarists. The current band does a good job of creating a
Skynyrd facsimile in concert but hasn’t fared quite so well as a creative unit, and the heart of the group's shows still consists of the classic old
Skynyrd tunes penned by the original band. That said, now essentially a tribute band to the original band that bears the name, the current configuration manages to walk the fine line between actually being
Lynyrd Skynyrd and sounding like
Lynyrd Skynyrd. This two-disc set (a CD with a DVD of the same set) preserves a concert the band did on June 15, 2007 at Freedom Hall in Louisville, KY, one of the last shows with both
Evans and
Powell. Luckily it was a good night, and this is a fine live set, anchored by crisp versions of
Skynyrd staples like “What’s Your Name,” “That Smell,” “Gimme Three Steps,” “Sweet Home Alabama,” and “Free Bird,” and if
Johnny Van Zant doesn’t quite have the same sassy soul as his brother
Ronnie did, he comes close enough to make all of this work. It’s nice, too, that pianist
Powell is up in the mix here, because he was much more central to
Skynyrd's (generally thought of as a guitar band) sound than most folks realize. He won’t be easy to replace, but then this is a band that is increasingly defined by its classic songs more than it is by its particular lineup on a given night -- “Free Bird” is “Free Bird,” after all.
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Steve Leggett, Rovi