Lynyrd
Skynyrd & Molly Hatchet
Paradise Casino
Red Rock, Oklahoma
October 22, 2009
By Jeb Wright
Molly
Hatchet Set List:
Whiskey Man | Bounty Hunter | Gator Country | Song of the South
| Fall of the Peacemakers | Devil's Canon | Beatin' the Odds |
Dreams I'll Never See
Encore:
Flirtin' with Disaster
Lynyrd
Skynyrd Set List:
Skynyrd Nation | Give Me Back My Bullets | Simple Life | That
Smell | Simple Man | God and Guns | Still Unbroken | Down South
Jukin | The Needle and the Spoon | Tuesday's Gone | Gimme Three
Steps | Call Me the Breeze | Sweet Home Alabama
Encore:
Free Bird
Legend holds that in order for Lynyrd
Skynyrd to remain a band, two original members must be in the
current lineup. Currently, Gary Rossington is the only
full-fledged original member of the band but that doesn't stop
him from hitting the road or releasing new music under the
classic moniker. Die-hard fans know that current guitarist
Rickey Medlocke appeared as a drummer on the original Skynyrd
demos and, therefore, is technically an original. Still, the
'Two Man Standing Rule' is still in effect, albeit by a
technicality, as most southern rock fans know that Medlocke
first found fame not as a drummer for Lynyrd Skynyrd but rather
as a guitarist and vocalist with the band Blackfoot.
It’s obvious that Rossington can
only get six figure paydays if he books his act under the name 'Lynyrd
Skynyrd.' If he went out as 'The Gary Rossington Band' he
couldn't even afford to pay the hired guns that share the stage
with him every night. The current band may looks like Lynyrd
Skynyrd and sound like Lynyrd Skynyrd, but in reality, it is not
Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Gone are Allen Collins, Ronnie
Van Zant, Leon Wilkeson, Billy Powell and Steve and Cassie
Gaines. Replacement players Ean Evans and Outlaws guitarist
Hughie Thomasson have also passed away and are missed. To be
honest, Rossington is missed as well as he has lost a lot of
agility and depends on Medlocke and Mark Matejka to reproduce
the lightening fast riffs and complex melodic passages he used
to hammer out with ease. That said, the current version of
Lynyrd Skynyrd puts on one hell of a show. Rossington
represents the old guard but his current troops retain the
sweat, piss, jizz and blood attitude of the original southern
rock rebels from Jacksonville.
Touring in support of their new
album, God & Guns, the band opened with "Skynyrd Nation"
proving to the crowd that they can still come up with great
songs in the genre they helped invent. Next up, however, saw
original vocalist Ronnie Van Zant's little brother, Johnny, take
the evening to new heights with a splendid rendition of "Give Me
Back My Bullets." The crowd went into frenzy as "That Smell"
and "Simple Man" were trotted out to the enthusiast collection
of Skynyrd fanatics. The acoustic "God & Guns" was a hit with
the redneck rockers in the crowd, as was the follow-up new tune
"Still Unbroken."
As good as the new tunes were,
however, being able to end a set with "Down South Jukin,” “The
Needle and the Spoon," "Tuesday's Gone," "Sweet Home Alabama"
and "Call Me the Breeze" nailed home the fact Skynyd, while only
one sixth original in flesh, is a hundred percent true in
spirit. The crowd went berserk when Van Zant took the stage and
said, "In the worlds of my older brother Ronnie, 'What song is
it you wanna hear?'" “FREE BIRD” boomed throughout the tent and
echoed into throughout the Oklahoma wilderness.
Every band member was on fire on
this night under the big top in the middle of Highway 77.
Drummer Michael Cartellone put on a clinic on the skins, even
though I overheard someone say that they didn't know that Lily
Tomlin was the latest drummer for the band. Bassist Robert
Kerns, with his shaggy hair and floppy hat kept the spirit of
fan favorite Leon Wilkeson's alive and well while Robert Key's
did his best Billy Powell impression throughout the night.
The three-guitar attack of
Lynyrd Skynyrd is led by the diminshed skills of Rossington,
however, long time band member Medlocke throws down lightening
fast licks and even blasts the overwhelming majority of the
"Free Bird" solo by himself. Mark Matejka proved to be a
positive presence on stage as well as a very skilled axe man.
Opening act Molly Hatchet had a
much tougher time of it than the headliners. For starters,
whoever got paid to mix the sound for Hatchet should be kicked
in the dick. Nothing is more frustrating as an audience member
than to see a guitarist playing a wailing solo but not being
able to hear it because the bass and drums are flooding the
arena in a black sounding mess of muck. Next, Hatchet leader
Bobby Ingram, while loyal to vocalist Phil McCormack, needs to
sit down and decide if Phil still still cut the mustard. Fact
is that Phil is one of the nicest front man in southern rock.
He always chats with fans and can be seen after every gig
walking around the venue like a normal person. The trouble is
that his low growling is beginning affect the songs he needs to
sing in a higher register.
His constant ramblings and
yelling of "HELL YEAH" border on silly and embarrassing. Again,
it is hard to crack on one of the good guys out there but the
facts are the facts. Molly Hatchet's strengths lie in the hands
of guitarists Dave Hlubek and Bobby Ingram. Both men still have
it. "Dreams" featured pure fretboard magic, in harmony. "Gator
Country" was received well and "Flirtin' with Disaster" is an
all time classic. For Hatchet to continue to draw, though, the
time has come to concentrate on getting the sound right,
knocking off the goofy stage moves and looking for a new voice
to front the band.
At the end
of the day this was a classic evening featuring some of the best
talents to come from Jacksonville, Florida, the home of both
Hatchet and Skynyrd. The stars of the show were clearly Lynyrd
Skynyrd. Even though some of the onstage antics were well
rehearsed the music was played flawlessly and professionally.
On one hand, God & Guns shows Skynyrd still have a bright
future ahead of them but, as history has shown, strange and
devastating things often happen to this rough neck set of street
survivors. Right now is good time to get the new CD and head
out to a show near you and scream out "Free Bird" as loud as you
can as one never knows how much longer the Skynyrd Nation will
last.
www.lynyrdskynyrd.com
www.mollyhatchet.com
