LYNYRD SKYNYRD + BLACKBERRY SMOKE – BRIGHTON CENTRE 18.7.25
Back in 2019 I saw Lynyrd Skynyrd at Wembley Arena as part of their farewell tour. It was clear that sole surviving original member Gary Rossington was not a well man, and this was to be his lap of honour around the globe. His playing, it has to be said, remained absolutely incredible, and I’m delighted that I had the opportunity to see him onstage. When Gary passed away in 2023, the band members, and the estates of the late band members decided that the band should carry on. This decision is more than justified as many of the current members have been with the band for decades. Vocalist Johnny Van Zant has been with the band for 48 years, which is far longer than the original singer, his brother Ronnie Van Zant, held the post. Although it should be noted that Ronnie’s tenure was brought to a close by Lynyrd Skynyrd’s tragic plane crash in 1977. So it is that I have the pleasure of seeing Lynyrd Skynyrd perform at Brighton Centre in 2025.
Support tonight comes from Blackberry Smoke. A mate of mine has been banging on for years about how good they are, and luckily for him they don’t disappoint (you can relax now Mike). Blackberry Smoke are clearly influenced by Lynyrd Skynyrd, and like Skynyrd they have a three man ‘guitar army’. However, their sound has a touch more rawness about it than Skynyrd’s does. To my ears they have more of the sound of The Georgia Satellites. With a twenty-four year history spanning eight albums they have a lot to fit in during their approximately one hour long support set. So strap yourself in: here goes!
Opener ‘Six Ways To Sunday’ from ‘The Whippoorwill’ album has the band starting as they mean to go on. The lead guitar parts are shared around all three guitarists, and even keyboard player Brandon Still gets a piano solo. ‘Good One Comin’ On’ features a storming slide solo from vocalist Charlie “Starr” Gray. ‘Pretty Little Lie’ introduces more of a country feel, which I’m not sure that I was expecting. ‘Hey Delilah’ features some sweet honky tonk piano and has almost a Bo Diddley beat. The crowd sing along with ‘Waiting For The Thunder’ which has quite a Zeppelinesque feel. There’ll be more of that later!
Starr unleashes his wah-wah pedal on ‘Sleeping Dogs’. There’s a triumvirate of Les Pauls deployed for this one, with some superb interplay between all three guitarists. There’s an excellent prolonged instrumental section with a snatch of ‘Midnight Special’ thrown in. ‘Old Scarecrow’ is about people who “start shit” on social media. Starr holds up his guitar at the end – “Hey y’all” is written on the back. ‘One Horse Town’ demonstrates the band’s sense of dynamics. It starts off in a gentle acoustic style, and gradually builds to an explosive climax.
Despite Blackberry Smoke’s extensive back catalogue, they’re not averse to throwing the odd cover version into the mix, such as ‘Willin’’ by Little Feat. It has a gorgeous descending guitar intro with added slide. The set closes with ‘Ain’t Much Left Of Me’ which includes a very powerful cover of Led Zeppelin’s version of Memphis Minnie’s ‘When The Levee Breaks’, which, quite frankly, could have gone on much longer than it did!!! This has been an utterly awesome set. Will Lynyrd Skynyrd be able to follow it??? I’m pretty sure they will.
Blackberry Smoke:
Charlie “Starr” Gray – vocals & guitar
Paul Jackson – guitar & backing vocals
Richard Starr- bass & backing vocals
Brandon Still – keyboards
Benji Shanks – guitar & dobro
Kent Aberle – drums
Blackberry Smoke setlist:
‘Six Ways To Sunday’ (from 2012 ‘The Whippoorwill’ album)
‘The Hammer And The Nail’ (from 2024 ‘Be Right Here’ album)
‘Good One Comin’ On’ (from 2009 ‘Little Piece Of Dixie’ album)
‘Pretty Little Lie’ (from 2012 ‘The Whippoorwill’ album)
‘Hey Delilah’ (from 2021 ‘You Hear Georgia’ album)
‘Waiting For The Thunder’ (from 2016 ‘Like An Arrow’ album)
‘Sleeping Dogs’ (including ‘Midnight Special’) (from 2012 ‘The Whippoorwill’ album)
‘Old Scarecrow’ (from from 2021 ‘You Hear Georgia’ album)
‘Run Away From It All’ (Find A Light album 2018)
‘One Horse Town’ (from 2012 ‘The Whippoorwill’ album)
‘Willin’’ (Little Feat cover)
‘Ain’t Much Left Of Me’ (including ‘When The Levee Breaks’ – Memphis Minnie / Led Zeppelin cover) (from 2012 ‘The Whippoorwill’ album)
Before Lynyrd Skynyrd take the stage there’s a short biographical film of the band, which is actually quite moving. It underlines how young they were at the time of the plane crash. Original vocalist Ronnie Van Zant was only 29 when he was killed in 1977. However, tonight we’re interested in the here and now rather than the past, so turn it up!
Tonight’s set commences with ‘Workin’ For MCA’, as indeed did Skynyrd’s classic live album ‘One More From The Road’. The guitar solo is taken by the band’s sole remaining solid link with the past: Rickey Medlocke. Medlocke played drums with Skynyrd from 1971 until 1972, before he left to form Blackfoot. Rickey came back to the band in 1996. Although he plays the solo here, lead duties are also shared with guitarists Mark Matejka and Damon Johnson.
This line-up of Lynyrd Skynyrd still remains faithful in every way to the original band. This is obviously helped by the fact that vocalist Johnny Van Zant sounds exactly like his late brother Ronnie. The band haven’t been tempted to mess with the arrangements of the songs. They are very much keeping the spirit of the band alive. Nothing played tonight was recorded after 1977. When I saw Skynyrd in 2019 they played some material from their later albums. That doesn’t happen tonight. This tour has been advertised as the 50th anniversary tour. It’s actually a couple of years late, as the band’s debut album ‘Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-nerd’ came out in 1973. Presumably the 50th anniversary tour didn’t take place in 2023 due to Gary Rossington’s sad passing.
As can be seen from the setlist, tonight is a cavalcade of highlights. Every song is a classic, and there are memorable touches in every song. For ‘That Smell’ (about the fatal consequences of alcohol and drug addiction) rancid looking green smoke rises from the bottom of the video screens. ‘I Know A Little’ from the original band’s final album boasts a gloriously showboating piano solo. The guitar intro to ‘Saturday Night Special’ crunches along just like the original. ‘Down South Jukin’’ is preceded by Johnny Van Zant proposing a toast to the deceased members of the band. This could have seemed mawkish, but with Skynyrd it seems both natural and sincere.
‘The Needle And The Spoon’ is another warning of the evils of drug addiction. It’s up there with Neil Young’s ‘The Needle And The Damage Done’ and ‘Tonight’s The Night’. Sadly all three songs are still tragically relevant, especially in the US with the epidemic of opioid addiction. ‘Tuesday’s Gone’ and ‘Simple Man’ are dedicated to Gary Rossington, and there are photos and footage of him on the screen. It’s easy to forget that it’s only two years since he passed, so it still must be pretty raw for the band.
A thankfully relatively short drum solo leads into ‘Gimme Three Steps’. Throughout the set there’s clearly a great deal of camaraderie between the band members, but it’s particularly apparent during this song. JJ Cale cover ‘Call Me The Breeze’ follows, as featured on Skynyrd’s ‘One More From The Road’ live album. However, unlike that album there’s a guest slot for guitarist Dave “Bucket” Colwell, who is a veteran of quite a few bands including 720 and Samson. He certainly doesn’t waste his time onstage, taking a couple of solos. The main set finishes with ‘Sweet Home Alabama’.
The band are gone for around five minutes before returning for what else could it be, but ‘Freebird’. Ronnie Van Zant’s hat is brought out and placed on top of the vocalist’s mic stand. When Lynyrd Skynyrd first returned in 1987 Johnny Van Zant couldn’t bring himself to sing this song, so the band played it instrumentally. Things have changed since then, and Johnny does sing the first verse. However, for the second verse Ronnie appears on the screen and the band play along to his vocal track. For the instrumental coda there’s an awesome triple-headed guitar solo which I wish would never end, but end it does. At this point Johnny Van Zant and Dave Colwell come onstage with a couple of children, the four of them clutching a Union Jack and a US flag. Doubtless this is an attempt to illustrate the brotherhood between the US and the UK. It kind of works. Possibly.
Ultimately though, tonight is a celebration of how great the original Lynyrd Skynyrd were, and a demonstration of how great the current Lynyrd Skynyrd are, and what worthy guardians they are of the Lynyrd Skynyrd flame. I hope it’s not too long before they get over to this side of the pond again. Don’t be strangers guys.
Lynyrd Skynyrd are:
Johnny Van Zant – vocals
Rickey Medlocke – guitar & vocals
Stacey Michelle – backing vocals
Carol Chase – backing vocals
Michael Cartellone – drums
Mark Matejka – guitar
Peter Keys – keyboards
Robbie Harrington – bass
Damon Johnson – guitar
Lynyrd Skynyrd were (1977):
Ronnie Van Zant – vocals
Allen Collins – guitar
Gary Rossington – guitar
Steve Gaines – guitar
Leon Wilkeson – bass
Billy Powell – keyboards
Artimus Pyle – drums
Leslie Hawkins – backing vocals
JoJo Billingsley – backing vocals
Cassie Gaines – backing vocals
Lynyrd Skynyrd setlist:
‘Workin’ For MCA’ (from 1974 ‘Second Helping’ album)
‘What’s Your Name’ (from 1977 ‘Street Survivors’ album)
‘That Smell’ (from 1977 ‘Street Survivors’ album)
‘I Know A Little’ (from 1977 ‘Street Survivors’ album)
‘Saturday Night Special’ (from 1975 ‘Nuthin’ Fancy’ album)
‘Down South Jukin’’ (from 1978 ‘Skynyrd’s First and….Last compilation’ album)
‘Gimme Back My Bullets’ (from 1976 ‘Gimme Back My Bullets’ album)
‘Cry For The Bad Man’ (from 1976 ‘Gimme Back My Bullets’ album)
‘The Needle And The Spoon’ (from 1974 ‘Second Helping’ album)
‘Tuesday’s Gone’ (from 1973 ‘Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-nerd’ album)
‘Simple Man’ (from 1973 ‘Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-nerd’ album)
‘Gimme Three Steps’ (from 1973 ‘Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-nerd’ album)
‘Call Me The Breeze’ (JJ Cale cover) (from 1976 ‘One More From The Road’ live album)
‘Sweet Home Alabama’ (from 1974 ‘Second Helping’ album)
(encore)
‘Freebird’ (from 1973 ‘Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-nerd’ album)
