There are moments you never want to come, but that the inexorable passing of time makes inevitable: they survived a tragic accident that decimated its members, they survived painful and irreplaceable losses, bad luck and prejudices, and have always gone beyond, but time no, that you can not defeat, to that you can not survive. Here they are Lynyrd Skynyrd, these Southern boys, proud and proud flag of Southern music, arrived at the end of the line (of course we hope they will reconsider in the future) of their more than legendary career, a fantastic tour that celebrates the event and so much sadness to have to say goodbye to the Skynyrd Nation. A band that comes to us with several added members in the years after the infamous tragedy of 1977 and after equally tragic losses. Only one original member is still alive, guitarist Gary Rossington, whose precarious health condition is one of the reasons, we imagine, of this abandonment in style of the group: an artist who has performed so many legendary solos of the history of music, that listing them would be really redundant. A singer who is the brother of the founder and leader of the first version of Lynyrd, namely Johnny Van Zant (Ronnie’s brother) who with talent, strength and pride carries on a legacy that would crush anyone; and then Rickey Medlocke, guitarist co-author of several past successes and member also in pre-1977 formations as well as leader and founder of Blackfoot. In addition to these now historic members, there are Michael Cartellone, drummer since 1999 of the group, the talented keyboardist Peter Keys who replaced the legendary Billy Powell after his death in 2009, then Mark Matejka on the other guitar and Keith Christopher on bass since 2017. This Last of the Street Survivors Farewell Tour Lyve! (2019) is the testimony of the last official appearance within the walls of the house, namely the concert recorded on September 2, 2018 in their Jacksonville, Florida. A wonderful, exciting live, which embraces all, but just all the successes that the pre-tragedy band of 1977 had composed, enchanting the rock world: the new Lynyrd are aware that is the legacy of the band, Those are the pieces to be proposed to the audience, those that have marked the history of music and leave new pieces to a marginal role, as it should be in evenings like this (two to be exact). A brave and absolutely perfect choice. The survivors of the title, that title so prophetic taken from Street Survivors (1977), the last album of the original band before the plane crash, there are and they draw a performance that since the first song, Workin for MCA, leaves no room for doubts: they play and they still do it great! It follows one of the two songs from the modern repertoire of the band and that is the dedication to their audience, the one that follows them for decades: Skynyrd Nation, powerful and rock, with an urgent riff and the voices of Van Zant and Medlocke on the shields but the concert really seems to start with What’s Your Name: southern rock accompanied by the keyboard of Keys makes the crowded stands of Everbank Field tremble. Maybe because it’s the first song of Street Survivors, it’s the riff that never gives you up, but this is the song that lights the fuse, and the band never stops. It continues with a machine gun of classics that unleash the crowd, including songs such as the exciting Travelin’ Man, with the posthumous participation of Ronnie Van Zant, whose voice taken from the past flanks that of his brother giving an exciting and touching duet that almost leads to tears, and pieces that are not always offered live as the funny and eventful boogie of I Know A Little, where guitars intertwine with the piano in a wild southern dance. Inevitable the proud and heartfelt dedication to the American Armed Forces in the second song taken from the current repertoire of the band, namely Red White and Blue, a really intense ballad. Public participation gets more pressing as the songs flow, well knowing that they are the ones to follow that people want and that will sing at the top of their lungs: the blues of The Ballad of Curtis Loew, vibrant and dirty as if it had been written today, the poignant ballad Tuesday’s Gone, with violins to increase the intensity, the rock and wind that accompany in Don’t Ask Me No Questions. Then comes the manifesto of the South, that of life simple and true: in all its magnificence here is Simple Man, dedicated to all Jacksonville and their fans hard and pure. Beautiful. After slowing down souls and hearts, the band gives a boost with Gimme Three Steps, another song from the southern rock soul, dirty and vibrant, with a killer groove that no longer gives up the air…we’re gonna miss them! Only the three pieces that have been closing their concerts for years are missing: their strongest and most heartfelt legacy to the history of rock music. It starts with the cover of the never-quite-celebrated J.J. Cale, Call Me The Breeze that with its solos shakes the stands of the stadium. The riff is history, one of the most famous and dirty of rock and then comes the official Southern anthem: Sweet Home Alabama, which Johnny dedicates to its author (the recently deceased Ed King), basically the inventor of one of the most beloved and imitated guitar riffs of all time. A piece that is legend, so famous that transcends genres and tastes: everyone knows the Alabama blue sky. The latest version on an official live makes it fully justice, the choirs, the audience, the guitars, all stuck to perfection. With the audience not yet recovering from this river of emotions, comes the end: one of the most beautiful and important pieces in the history of rock music, with the most intense and inspired solos ever. With the dedication to the Allman Brothers Band guitarist, Duane Allman, here is Free Bird, with his eternal question “If I leave here tomorrow / Would you still remember me?” to which, after this live show and after having consumed their amazing discography, we can certainly answer: without any doubt. The piece is perfect, the piano, the audience and the guitars that at the end seem no longer to want to leave the stage, intertwined in an absolutely unique ride. Real chills. A painful but exciting farewell, a journey into the past and present of one of the greatest bands in the history of music, never quite celebrated because of really sad prejudices related to their proud membership in the South of the States: give yourself a gift, listen to it in one breath and get excited like we did and, if you don’t know them so well yet, go and discover their discography. Long live the Lynyrd Skynyrd!!!
Good listening,
Trex Willer by http://www.magazzininesistenti.it
you can find original italian article at this link : http://www.magazzininesistenti.it/lynyrd-skynyrd-last-of-the-street-survivors-farewell-tour-lyve-2019-di-claudio-trezzani/ )
