Band: Lynyrd Skynyrd
More Show Photos: HERE
Venue: Lowell  Memorial Auditorium
Photographer: Ilya Mirman
Review By: Ilya Mirman

On a cold New England night, Lynyrd Skynyrd warmed up the crowd with a fun, high energy set, delivered with Skynyrd’s trademark flair.  The archetypes of Southern Rock did not disappoint – if you have a favorite Skynyrd song, they likely played it Saturday night.
Lowell  Memorial Auditorium is a great venue for a rock show – large stage, an intimate venue with great visibility from every vantage point, and terrific lighting.  The stage is set low, allowing the audience and artists to be much closer and interact more.  I saw at least three generations of fans – some clearly grew up with Skynyrd in the 70’s, some discovering them within the past decade.
Johnny Van Zant was perfect in his frontman role – singing the hits and revving up the crowd, passionately extolling Skynyrd’s values and expressing his gratitude to the Skynyrd community.  Embraced by the crowd, Van Zant and the rest of the band reacted in kind.  There was action across the stage – in one corner Peter Keys pounded away on the ivories while center-stage, the gods of Southern rock delivered familiar beloved riffs – rocking back and forth with the precision of synchronized swimmers; and at the other end of the stage, backing vocalists Dale Krantz-Rossington and Carol Chase provided a beautiful and soulful contrast.

Opening with “Last of a Dyin’ Breed,” their most recent studio album’s title track, the rest of the set was a stream of Skynyrd’s giant hits.  From “What’s Your Name” and “That Smell,” to “Saturday Night Special” and “Gimme Three Steps,” the three axemen – Gary Rossington, Rickey Medlocke and Mark Matejka – expertly wove together one masterpiece after the other.  And the “new guys” – Johnny Colt on bass (since 2012) and Peter Keys on keyboards (since 2009) – fit in fabulously in both style and substance.
At the end, Van Zant asked the question whose answer never disappoints, “What song is it you want to hear?”  It wasn’t the first time I saw Freebird played live, but nonetheless experienced it as a magnificent, majestic performance – a rock anthem that’s dramatic, moving, beautiful.  Skynyrd may see themselves as “the last of a dyin’ breed” – but I hope they live on for a long, long time.

Set List

Last of a Dyin’ Breed

What’s Your Name

Down South Jukin’

That Smell

Saturday Night Special

I Know a Little

Simple Man

Gimme Back My Bullets

Whiskey Rock-A-Roller

The Needle and the Spoon

Tuesday’s Gone

Good Teacher

Gimme Three Steps

Call Me the Breeze

Sweet Home Alabama

Free Bird