Lynyrd Skynyrd brought the classic rock to the Country Summer Music Festival.
The Day One headliners thrilled the roughly 8,000 in attendance on Friday (June 16) at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa by performing a 90-minute set that was just packed full of Southern rock favorites.
The three-day festival was scheduled to continue to Saturday with headliner Eric Church — one of the greatest artists in all of country music — as well as the Cadillac Three, Caylee Hammack and others. The festivities conclude on Sunday with Brothers Osborne topping a bill that also includes Lee Brice and more. For more information, visit countrysummer.com.
Friday’s Skynyrd gig proved to be a richly emotional outing as the musicians performed what was their first NorCal show since Gary Rossington — the last surviving original member of the band — died on March 5 at the age of 71.
The group on Friday paid a touching tribute to Rossington, dedicating the song “Tuesday’s Gone” to the supremely talented guitarist and then showing videos of him on the big screens onstage. One of the newer members of the band really stepped up in the moment and delivered some stirring lead guitar work in the song.
“Damon Johnson playing it for Mr. Gary Rossington up in rock ‘n’ roll heaven,” lead vocalist Johnny Van Zant remarked.
Johnson, who has been working with the band since 2021, was one of the trio of aces who formed Lynyrd Skynyrd’s signature three-guitar attack for the evening. The other two all-pros were Mark Matejka (a member since 2006) and Rickey Medlocke (who was in the band early on, from 1971 to 1972, and then rejoined in 1996).
The other current members of the band include Van Zant (since 1987), drummer Michael Cartellone (since 1999), keyboardist Peter Keys (since 2009) and bassist Keith Christopher (since 2017).
So while there are no original members left, there are certainly a lot of players who have been doing this gig for a long time. By my rough estimate, there’s something like a combined 130 years of Lynyrd Skynyrd experience to be found in this current outfit.
And it certainly showed during their terrific 15-song set in Santa Rosa.
The group opened up with a true winner, “Workin’ for MCA” from 1974’s “Second Helping,” and then just keep right on dishing out the fan favorites — “What’s Your Name,” “You Got That Right,” “I Know a Little,” “That Smell,” etc.
“California!” Van Zant exclaimed. “Skynyrd is in your house!”
The band saluted the troops — as per its longstanding custom — with heartfelt conviction on a number of occasions. Notably, Van Zant — who wore an American flag decal on the back of his vest and had a weathered Old Glory hanging from his microphone stand throughout the evening — put his all into “Red White and Blue” from 2003’s “Vicious Cycle.”
Lynyrd Skynyrd is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2023, even though the group has actually been around a few years longer than that. Yet, this year does mark a half century since Skynyrd released its landmark debut, 1973’s “(Pronounced ‘Lĕh-‘nérd ‘Skin-‘nérd).”
As always, the group drew strongly from that first album, devoting more than a quarter of the setlist to the multiplatinum-selling effort. The record’s “Gimme Three Steps,” “Simple Man” and “Tuesday’s Gone” were all highlights from the last half of the show.
Skynyrd ended the main set with a fiery “Sweet Home Alabama” and then left the stage.
And hopefully nobody in the crowd actually thought the band was done for the night.
Of course, the musicians would return and take flight once again with “Free Bird,” performing a version of the song that again underscored its brilliance and place among the greatest compositions — of any genre — of the 20th century. The lengthy, intertwining three-guitar closing is one that pretty much every classic rock fan has heard countless times. And, yet, it never grows old.
Lynyrd Skynyrd returns to Northern California later in the year on the co-headlining The Sharp Dressed Simple Man Tour with ZZ Top. The trek stops Aug. 10 at Shoreline Amphitheatre at Mountain View and Aug. 11 at Toyota Amphitheatre in Wheatland. Visit livenation.com for details.
Setlist:
1. “Workin’ for MCA”
2. “What’s Your Name”
3. “You Got That Right”
4. “I Know a Little”
5. “That Smell”
6. “Whiskey Rock-a-Roller”
7. “Saturday Night Special”
8. “Gimme Back My Bullets”
9. “Tuesday’s Gone”
10, “Red White & Blue (Love It or Leave)”
11. “Simple Man”
12. “Gimme Three Steps”
13. “Call Me the Breeze”
14. “Sweet Home Alabama”
Encore:
15. “Free Bird”
Source: www.mercurynews.com