![]() Quote of the night: Johnny Van Zant, relentless in firing up the crowd, slapped on a Packers cap someone gave him backstage. Volunteers with the Beja Shriners were peddling a double Skynyrd CD for $20, with all proceeds going to Shriners Hospitals for Children and the Skynyrd Foundation. But to see the band’s poignant performance of the song for the finale, with Ronnie Van Zant back onstage once more through grainy video of the ‘70s, along with a tribute to Skynyrd bandmates lost in the decades since, was a powerful reminder that “Free Bird” is far more than just some concert rite of passage.įavorite find at the merch booth: Those “Lynyrd (Expletive) Skynyrd” T-shirts.īest old-school nods: Not only could you still buy yourself a $40 Lynyrd Skynyrd lighter - and break it out for “Free Bird” with no shame - but you could get your hands on a CD without leaving your seat. How long it took to hear the first drunken “Free Bird!” from the crowd: Twenty minutes and then approximately every seven minutes after that for the rest of the night. But it was hardly an oldies crowd, with younger fans who have been turned onto the band in the generations since playing air guitar with as much gusto on “Saturday Night Special” as the diehards. It’s no surprise it skewed heavily to the age group that grew up on the Ronnie Van Zant-fronted Skynyrd of the ‘70s – some graying beards and a lot of Harley-Davidson T-shirts now. RELATED: Melissa Etheridge: Lambeau is 'good, yummy center of football' RELATED: Lynyrd Skynyrd's Johnny Van Zant on the band's fans, farewell and legacy If there was any question whether Skynyrd can still bring it, the stretch of “Gimme Three Steps,” “Call Me the Breeze” and “Sweet Home Alabama” answered that loud and proud. ![]() For classic rock fans, there’s something deeply comforting in that.Īnd not just phoning it in, either. With every closeup of Rossington, it was hard not to think of all the tragedy the band has endured, beginning with the 1977 plane crash that killed lead singer and chief lyricist Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines and backup singer Cassie Gaines.īy the same token, it was also hard not to marvel that Skynyrd is somehow still around. Save for Rossington, the band’s original members are gone, but Skynyrd’s rebellious spirit, pounding triple-guitar attack and connection to the simple man were alive and well during a 95-minute concert that had both band and fans “singing songs about the South land.”įrom the bluesy guitar boogie of “I Know a Little” to the melancholy of “Tuesday’s Gone,” the touching home videos that accompanied “Simple Man” to the dedication of “Sweet Home Alabama” in memory of guitarist Ed King (who died in August), it was a night for both looking back and cutting loose. proved they can still raise a little hell during a stop at the Resch Center for the band’s Last of the Street Survivors Farewell Tour. Johnny Van Zant, Gary Rossington, Rickey Medlocke & Co. ![]() View Gallery: Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Marshall Tucker Band perform at ReschĪSHWAUBENON– If it turns out Friday night was indeed Lynyrd Skynyrd’s last time in Green Bay, the Southern rock giants went out with guitars blazing.
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