Post by jacksonvillekid on Apr 18, 2007 13:39:58 GMT -5
FANS GORGE ON SOUTHERN-FRIED ROCK
38 Special, Skynyrd, Hank Jr. put on 'skull-rattling' show Friday, April 13, 2007
By CHRIS WELCHTimes Entertainment Writer www.chris.welch@htimes.com
Here's the challenge that more than 6,000 fans faced at the Von Braun Center Arena on Wednesday night:
First, they stood for an hour or so of great Southern rock from 38 Special. And that even included a virtually unheard of encore for an opening band when it returned to play "Hold on Loosely."
Then they stood another 90 minutes for the amp-blowing, guitar-driven rock from the legendary and recently Rock and Roll Hall of Fame-inducted Lynyrd Skynyrd. That included whipping themselves into a frenzy when "Sweet Home Alabama" came on followed by a 15-minute encore of "Freebird."
By this time, many in the crowd were worn out, full of beer, stumbling up the stairs and generally out of it ?and they still had another hour or so left for one of country's legendary singers, Hank Williams Jr.
And all this on a school or a work night.
No doubt, there were a lot of bleary-eyed folks reporting to work Thursday morning - or not - after more than four hours of the aptly named Rowdy Frynds Tour.
The 20-city tour opened here with three legit headliners. 38 Special, led by Donnie Van Zant, brother of Skynyrd lead singer Johnny Van Zant, warmed up the crowd quickly with hits such as "Wild Eyed Southern Boys, "Fantasy Girl," Second Chance," "Caught up in You" and a medley of songs that included "Back to Paradise," "Somebody Like You" and "Teacher, Teacher."
Skynyrd then took the stage and never slowed down. It opened with, as Van Zant says, a song that gives him chill bumps - "Travelin' Man." As he sang, a video showed black-and-white footage of his late brother, Ronnie, singing the same song. The band went into "That Smell" and "Simple Man" - Van Zant's favorite.
Skynyrd ran through a medley of its hits, including "Needle and Spin," "Curtis Loew," "Cry for the Bad Man" and "Tuesday's Gone." Van Zant tied an American flag to the mic and dedicated "Red White and Blue" to the troops, followed by "Gimme Three Steps," "Call Me the Breeze" and "Sweet Home Alabama." (The crowd added its own "Roll Tide Roll" after each chorus.)
When Skynyrd returned for the encore, Van Zant said: "What song do you want to hear?" With that, fans raised their lighters, and the group raised the roof with the rock anthem "Freebird."
"It was amazing, tantalizing, epic, skull-rattling," said Patrick Billingsley, a high school student who plays in the Cove United Methodist Church Liquid band. "It's one of the best concerts I've seen, which puts them up in the rankings with the likes of Motley Crue, Kiss, Aerosmith, to name a few."
At 10:15, Williams had the unenviable task of trying to recharge a crowd that had gotten totally juiced from Skynyrd and 38 Special. Williams came out alone, dressed in a sleeveless Pittsburgh Steelers shirt, and showed the skills of the talented guitarist/musician he is, changing gears and slowing the pace to his country-fied style. He opened with a few acoustic songs, including "Whiskey Bent and Hell Bound" and "Dinosaur," before the band joined him for "Country Boy."
He followed with "If Heaven Ain't a Lot Like Dixie" and followed with the hit he did with Gretchen Wilson and the Van Zants, "That's How They do it in Dixie."
He hollered, "This will be year No. 17!" and kicked into his theme from "Monday Night Football" - "All My Rowdy Friends Are Comin' Over Tonight" as NFL highlights played on a video screen. He also played "Old Habits" and did his best imitation of ZZ Top on the cover of "La Grange." He rattled off some chords from Ted Nugent's "Cat Scratch Fever" and Aerosmith's "Walk this Way" before breaking into "Family Tradition," which the audience really got into.
Surprisingly, he didn't return for an encore, but maybe that was best - it was 11:15, and everybody was worn out from a great night of music.
www.al.com/entertainment/huntsvilletimes/index.ssf?/base/entertainment/117645592457900.xml&coll=1#continue
Poor Hank
Needle and Spin??? Hmmm, not much of a fan maybe?
38 Special, Skynyrd, Hank Jr. put on 'skull-rattling' show Friday, April 13, 2007
By CHRIS WELCHTimes Entertainment Writer www.chris.welch@htimes.com
Here's the challenge that more than 6,000 fans faced at the Von Braun Center Arena on Wednesday night:
First, they stood for an hour or so of great Southern rock from 38 Special. And that even included a virtually unheard of encore for an opening band when it returned to play "Hold on Loosely."
Then they stood another 90 minutes for the amp-blowing, guitar-driven rock from the legendary and recently Rock and Roll Hall of Fame-inducted Lynyrd Skynyrd. That included whipping themselves into a frenzy when "Sweet Home Alabama" came on followed by a 15-minute encore of "Freebird."
By this time, many in the crowd were worn out, full of beer, stumbling up the stairs and generally out of it ?and they still had another hour or so left for one of country's legendary singers, Hank Williams Jr.
And all this on a school or a work night.
No doubt, there were a lot of bleary-eyed folks reporting to work Thursday morning - or not - after more than four hours of the aptly named Rowdy Frynds Tour.
The 20-city tour opened here with three legit headliners. 38 Special, led by Donnie Van Zant, brother of Skynyrd lead singer Johnny Van Zant, warmed up the crowd quickly with hits such as "Wild Eyed Southern Boys, "Fantasy Girl," Second Chance," "Caught up in You" and a medley of songs that included "Back to Paradise," "Somebody Like You" and "Teacher, Teacher."
Skynyrd then took the stage and never slowed down. It opened with, as Van Zant says, a song that gives him chill bumps - "Travelin' Man." As he sang, a video showed black-and-white footage of his late brother, Ronnie, singing the same song. The band went into "That Smell" and "Simple Man" - Van Zant's favorite.
Skynyrd ran through a medley of its hits, including "Needle and Spin," "Curtis Loew," "Cry for the Bad Man" and "Tuesday's Gone." Van Zant tied an American flag to the mic and dedicated "Red White and Blue" to the troops, followed by "Gimme Three Steps," "Call Me the Breeze" and "Sweet Home Alabama." (The crowd added its own "Roll Tide Roll" after each chorus.)
When Skynyrd returned for the encore, Van Zant said: "What song do you want to hear?" With that, fans raised their lighters, and the group raised the roof with the rock anthem "Freebird."
"It was amazing, tantalizing, epic, skull-rattling," said Patrick Billingsley, a high school student who plays in the Cove United Methodist Church Liquid band. "It's one of the best concerts I've seen, which puts them up in the rankings with the likes of Motley Crue, Kiss, Aerosmith, to name a few."
At 10:15, Williams had the unenviable task of trying to recharge a crowd that had gotten totally juiced from Skynyrd and 38 Special. Williams came out alone, dressed in a sleeveless Pittsburgh Steelers shirt, and showed the skills of the talented guitarist/musician he is, changing gears and slowing the pace to his country-fied style. He opened with a few acoustic songs, including "Whiskey Bent and Hell Bound" and "Dinosaur," before the band joined him for "Country Boy."
He followed with "If Heaven Ain't a Lot Like Dixie" and followed with the hit he did with Gretchen Wilson and the Van Zants, "That's How They do it in Dixie."
He hollered, "This will be year No. 17!" and kicked into his theme from "Monday Night Football" - "All My Rowdy Friends Are Comin' Over Tonight" as NFL highlights played on a video screen. He also played "Old Habits" and did his best imitation of ZZ Top on the cover of "La Grange." He rattled off some chords from Ted Nugent's "Cat Scratch Fever" and Aerosmith's "Walk this Way" before breaking into "Family Tradition," which the audience really got into.
Surprisingly, he didn't return for an encore, but maybe that was best - it was 11:15, and everybody was worn out from a great night of music.
www.al.com/entertainment/huntsvilletimes/index.ssf?/base/entertainment/117645592457900.xml&coll=1#continue
Poor Hank
Needle and Spin??? Hmmm, not much of a fan maybe?
thanks teri for that.
