Southern rock legends Lynyrd Skynyrd played in Montclair, NJ last night, filling the newly restored venue with hoards of fans both old and young.

The current incarnation of Skynyrd, with guitarist Gary Rossington as the only full-time original member, still boasts an impressive pedigree, including original singer Ronnie Van Zant’s younger brother Johnny on vocals, and original drummer Rickey Medlocke now on lead guitar. Check back with Examiner.com this weekend for a preshow interview with Rickey as he discusses his musical influences, modern politics, Skynyrd history, and more.

The band, playing their fourth New York metro area appearance since August, opened with new song Skynyrd Nation, one of four new tunes that would be played over the night. The Wellmont Theater’s stage was heavily packed, as the band now consists of a staggering nine musicians filling out the classic triple guitar sound. Flatscreen TVs flashed Skynyrd images as singer Johnny Van Zant belted out songs old and new, and the audience of long time fans sang along to classic tunes such as Gimme Back My Bullets, Tuesday's Gone, That Smell, and the always poignant Simple Man, which Van Zant dedicated to US troops both home and overseas. Newer tunes off Skynyrd’s freshly released album, God & Guns, also featured prominently in the setlist, and were well received by the crowd, especially the hard-rocking radio hit Still Unbroken. In another merging of the old and new, a noticeable amount of children were present in the audience, cheering right next to their proud parents, especially during the bands’ best known material such as Sweet Home Alabama as a new generation was introduced to one of the best-known rock bands of all time. Of course, no Lynyrd Skynyrd concert would be complete without an encore performance of Free Bird, arguably the most famous encore song of all time. The band played the classic ballad with the same tight perfection they demonstrated the entire night, keyboardist Peter Keys hammering away at his piano while Medlocke shredded through the solo regularly voted to the top five of virtually every list of all-time best guitar, solo, or rock songs. Flatscreen TVs displayed the names of Skynyrd members who have passed away over the years, as all of the musicians powered their way through the heavy metal guitar climax of the song, Van Zant hoisting an American flag tied to his microphone stand high above his head as the audience roared in appreciation. As Rickey Medlocke said earlier in the day, “Lynyrd Skynyrd may be called Southern rock, but really it’s American rock. We’re as American as can be.” Truly, last night’s performance demonstrated one of the last classic rock bands still touring and making new music, with no sign of slowing down. From first song to last, Skynyrd delivered a hard rocking concert that satisfied everyone, and made it clear that they plan to be around for a long time yet. While last night night's show was the fourth and final local appearance for 2009, expect the Skynyrd family to roll around again soon.

-Elliot Levin

"Damn the Torpedoes....because if you don't like it....This Freebird is just for YOU!"

I proudly stand with Gary Rossington....

Have a nice day,

Lucky

(Funny how two people can look at the same thing, and see it differently).

By PHIL LUCIANO (pluciano@pjstar.com) Journal Star Posted Nov 08, 2009 @ 09:28 PM BLOOMINGTON —

Like most country-rock bands, Lynyrd Skynyrd extols down-home traditions such as patriotism, faith and simplicity.

But what about the time-honored belief of giving the customer his dollar's worth?

To be sure, Skynyrd delivered a solid, if predictable, show Saturday at the U.S. Cellular Coliseum. But just 85 minutes? Including encore? And just one encore?

Mind you, the itinerary had Skynyrd slated to perform from 8:45 to 10:30 p.m. But they were off the stage and headed to an awaiting stretch limo by 10:10. Moreover, frontman Johnny Van Zant had repeatedly yammered to the crowd about the thrill of all-out partying on a Saturday night. But the show was over not long after the evening news had begun. Did Skynyrd need to pick up the kids at the baby sitter early or something?

Some 4,000 fans had shelled out upwards of $70 a seat each. That's not far from a buck a minute. At that rate, a performer like Bruce Springsteen would be a billionaire.

Further, for some reason, the band did a medley of "Whiskey Rock A Roller," "Down South Jukin'" and "The Needle and the Spoon" - why not play the entire tunes? It's not as if time was a factor. And there certainly were songs left off the set list - "Tuesday's Gone," "The Ballad of Curtis Lowe" - that could've rounded out the show nicely.

The band certainly seemed energized. The seven-man outfit was tight, with nice guitar work by Rickey Medlocke. Medlocke, the former frontman for Blackfoot, briefly played drums for Skynyrd in 1970 and now handles its lead-guitar duties. The craggy scarecrow of a man stood front and center most of the night, attacking his six-string with gusto and precision. During "Call Me the Breeze," he played a few notes with his teeth, but slipped once and recoiled, smiling and mouthing "Ouch!"

Curiously, the band is now down to just one female backup singer. The group, once renowned for The Honkettes trio, boasted a backup threesome as recently as two years ago. I guess downsizing is everywhere, even with Skynyrd.

Van Zant sang laudably. He never has had the range of his late brother, but his growl fits the band's tunes and mood well. The chubby, scruffy fellow chatted with the crowd often - though nothing too creative, mostly cajolings like, "Y'all show Skynyrd some love!" And, weirdly as always, he still does the entire show while chomping on gum.

The set sounded like a classic-rock-radio playlist: "Gimme Back My Bullets." "That Smell," "I Know A Little," "Simple Man" - along with some sort of song about Alabama. The opener - "Skynyrd Nation," off the new "God and Guns" CD - was well received. In fact, three more of 10 songs came off that album: the title track, "Simple Life," and "Still Unbroken." I don't know if we'll hear any of those when Skynyrd is doing county fairs in 10 years, but the tunes sounded punchy Saturday.

As usual for Skynyrd, the stage set-up was minimal: just standard lighting and a huge video screen. Sometimes, the screen showed the show in progress, for those way in the back. Other times, it touted images to highlight the tune at hand, such as pictures of women during "What's Your Name?" - just in case anyone didn't know that, indeed, this is a song about picking up chicks.

Still, the screen served well in places, especially during the lone encore, "Freebird." Old, grainy photos flashed of Ronnie Van Zant, Billy Powell, Leon Wilkeson, Steve Gaines and other fallen members. Rather than mawkish, it came off as tender.

And as soon as the tune ended, so did the show. Just like those departed bandmates, Skynyrd left all too soon.

This is from Fort Meyers, it's three pages long, so I'll just get you started here, and give you a link......

After each tour, after thousands and thousands of fans chanting “Free Bird,” Rickey Medlocke can’t wait to slip out of his leather concert clothes and get back to sweet home Fort Myers.

“I just love it,” said the lanky guitarist for Lynyrd Skynyrd, the classic Southern rock band playing Germain Arena in Estero tonight. “Everything’s just a little bit more low key. I’ve got a lot of friends here.”

During his breaks from Skynyrd, Medlocke spends his time fishing for redfish and snook, target practicing at local gun ranges and eating sushi at local sushi bars.

Tonight’s concert marks the first time Skynyrd has played Southwest Florida in about four years. Many of Medlocke’s local friends will be there — including Sheriff Mike Scott, who might show up in his sheriff’s uniform.

“I probably won’t have time to change,” Scott explained.....

(Just click on "View Source" below for the rest...)

When three members of Lynyrd Skynyrd came to the CMT offices recently to tape an episode of Top 20 Countdown, they saw something that stopped them in their tracks: A black-and-white photograph capturing an unguarded moment between Johnny Cash and Merle Haggard.

"We had to stop and look at it for five minutes," says Gary Rossington, who played in various bands with Allen Collins and Ronnie Van Zant as a teenager in Jacksonville, Fla., prior to the band's formal transformation (with several additional members) into Lynyrd Skynyrd in the early 1970s.

"Ronnie's favorite guy was Merle Haggard, and he just listened to that every day. I loved it. Billy [Powell, the founding keyboardist] used to fight with him. He liked Yes and Emerson, Lake & Palmer -- and keyboard stuff. But we listened to the good old stuff. We still do, you know. I love Merle."

Despite his reputation as a Southern guitar god, Rossington is not bothered that distinctive guitar playing doesn't have as pivotal a role in country music as it used to.

"Like they say, it's all good," he says. "But I like the old Roy Nichols and Merle Haggard stuff and all the old great guitar solos and Roy Clark and just all the great pickers that are around. There are hundreds -- well, thousands -- of them here in Nashville. And that's what we grew up hearing and listening to: steel guitars and banjo when banjo was cool. It still is to us."

Guitarist Rickey Medlocke, a longtime friend who joined the band permanently in 1996, says, "The funny thing about it is, country and blues were hammered into us. My dad was a musician, played on the road and played all of his life. And I grew up in a musical family. I heard it all. I mean, I got accustomed to listening to Roy Acuff and all the old guys. It was really cool for me growing up in a family like that."

Medlocke lists Cash, George Jones and Waylon Jennings as the original musical rebels while citing Vince Gill and Marty Stuart as two of his favorite modern country guitarists. Meanwhile, lead singer Johnny Van Zant praises Brad Paisley and Keith Urban as superior instrumentalists, but he also has a soft spot for David Allan Coe.

"David Allan Coe actually went to jail one time," Van Zant says. "Some fan cursed Lynyrd Skynyrd, and David Allan Coe kicked his teeth in. He ran and kicked a guy's teeth in for saying something about Lynyrd Skynyrd. He actually pulled me on his bus one night to tell me this. And I go, 'Thanks, man!' Believe me, he'd do it again, I'm sure!"

Lynyrd Skynyrd's rowdy musical perspective is obvious in current country artists like Montgomery Gentry and Gretchen Wilson, as well as the band's summer tour partner, Kid Rock. "We're friends with them," Rossington says. "They heard us coming up, too. I mean, you have to if you're around a little while."

Lynyrd Skynyrd's catalog is familiar to anyone who's ever listened to a classic rock radio station -- "Sweet Home Alabama," "Free Bird," "Gimme Three Steps" and many others. However, the band is equally well known for the tragic plane crash on Oct. 20, 1977 -- just three days after their Street Survivor album was released -- that claimed the lives of members Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines and Cassie Gaines. The band unraveled shortly thereafter and the hiatus lasted a decade.

Today, Lynyrd Skynyrd hopes to reach country fans with the title track of a new album, Simple Man, and have been collaborating with top Nashville songwriters -- for example, "Unwrite That Song" with Jeffrey Steele. In the album's liner notes, the band also bids farewell to Powell and bassist Ean Evans, who both died this year. The inscription suggests that their spirit will remain, especially when the lights go down.

"That's the way we feel," Rossington says. "When we go onstage, we feel Ronnie and Allen and Steve and Leon [Wilkeson] and Billy and Ean and all of them that aren't with us. You feel their spirit, and we talk about them in interviews like this every day. We still live with them. They're in our hearts and souls. ... It's all one big family. Them and us."

"We'll never forget them," Johnny Van Zant says. "I mean, if you get too big of a head to forget who started this band along with Gary, and the meaning of Lynyrd Skynyrd, then you've lost what we're all about. "

"That's what we're doing it for, is to tell the story and share the music and just keep the dream going," Rossington agrees.

"One day, this music is going to outlive all of us," Van Zant says. "One day, we're all going to be gone. This music will keep. There will be a kid someday going, 'I wanna hear that song.'"

Asked if he had advice for teenagers trying to get into the music business, Rossington says, "Well, keep picking and keep playing. I got a T-shirt at home that Les Paul, God bless him, signed that says, 'Gary, keep on picking.' It's so simple, but it's great because that's what he thought to say to me. I'd just say, keep on picking and get somebody to watch your business because other people will do it for you. That's about it, man. I think people who really want to do something do it. No matter what. And they won't quit until they do it. So just don't be discouraged."

And for those families who have teenagers with an eye on performing?

"Help them a little bit," Rossington says. "Our parents helped us, or we wouldn't be here. Lacy Van Zant and my mother used to sign for amps or loan us money to get to the gig or take us in their car. It's just like little sports guys -- Little League and football players -- whose parents help them. That's why they get good. So just support them and be on their side."