Concert Review
Lynyrd Skynyrd
ZZ Top
The Outlaws
Thursday August 15, 2024
Empower FCU @ Lakeview
Syracuse, NY
Review/Photos: Joseph Suto
There is a feeling of something good in the air when attending a Lynyrd Skynyrd concert. The Empower FCU Amphitheater at Lakeview was the place to be with an action packed lineup for the Sharp Dressed Simple Man tour. The 2024 summer tour featured Skynyrd alongside ZZ Top and The Outlaws.
Lynyrd Skynyrd had decided to keep going after their Farewell tour in 2018. These days the band features the vocal talent of Johnny Van Zant who has been around since the 1989 reboot. Joining him were guitarists Rickey Medlocke, Mark Matejka and Damon Johnson, bassist Keith Christopher, keyboardist Peter Keys and former Damn Yankees drummer Michael Cartellone.
The band kicked off the proceedings with one of its traditional openers “Workin’ For MCA” as they hunt and pecked through selections that included many of the classic songs the band is known for. Thrown in for good measure were songs like “I Know A Little” and “Down South Jukin'”. The one thing about Lynyrd Skynyrd is you know what you are gonna get attending one of their shows. You will get the classic songs played by excellent musicians with the classic southern style charm which Van Zant possesses.
The show featured one of their biggest productions from anytime I can remember from past tours. It definitely helped to enhance the show overall but these guys generally let the music do the talking and that they did. Ending with the landmark song “Sweet Home Alabama”, you just knew when they came out for the encore what it was going to be. Skynyrd doesn’t tease as they obliged everyone by ending with the song that appeared on their debut and closed out the album “Free Bird”. It’s One of those songs no matter how many times you hear it, it never gets old.
The fact the band has no one left from it’s popular period does not deter the fans from coming out. It is always a celebration of some of the finest music ever recorded that has truly stood the test of time. This is one band that carries the legacy of the original band the way it should be by staying true to their roots. Add in ZZ Top and The Outlaws and you have the makings of a southern style jubilee.
Lynyrd Skynyrd
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Set Lists
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Workin’ for MCA
Skynyrd Nation
What’s Your Name
That Smell
I Know a Little
Down South Jukin’
Saturday Night Special
The Ballad of Curtis Loew
Tuesday’s Gone
Simple Man
Gimme Three Steps
Call Me the Breeze
Sweet Home Alabama
Encore
Free Bird
ZZ Top
Got Me Under Pressure
I Thank You
Waitin’ for the Bus
Jesus Just Left Chicago
Gimme All Your Lovin’
Pearl Necklace
I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide
I Gotsta Get Paid
My Head’s in Mississippi
Sixteen Tons
Just Got Paid
Sharp Dressed Man
Legs
Encore
Brown Sugar
Tube Snake Boogie
La Grange
The Outlaws
There Goes Another Love Song
Hurry Sundown
Riders in the Sky
Green Grass & High Tides
