Lynyrd Skynyrd rocks SPAC stage
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. >> Summer may be winding down, but concert season is still going strong at Saratoga Performing Arts Center.
This Labor Day weekend, between shows by Zac Brown Band and Peter Frampton, SPAC welcomed Lynyrd Skynyrd on Saturday night.
Thousands of fans came out to see the Southern rock band on its The Last of the Street Survivors Farewell Tour in Saratoga Springs.
Also on the bill for Saturday’s event were country rocker Hank Williams Jr. and local rock ‘n’ roll band Wild Adriatic.
Though Wild Adriatic has played some previous dates at large-scale venues on the Lynyrd Skynyrd tour, this was the guys’ first time rocking on stage at their hometown amphitheater.
“Thank you for giving us a career and letting us live our dreams,” drummer Mateo Vosganian said to supporters in the crowd.
During the set, Wild Adriatic performed original tunes like “Hurricane Woman” off of 2017 album Feel, along with bits of songs by The Allman Brothers Band, Metallica and Grand Funk Railroad.
Next up, Hank Williams Jr. took the spotlight. At 70 years old, Williams is carrying on the musical tradition of his father Hank Williams, who died at age 29 after becoming one of the most influential popular musicians of the 20th century, especially within the country music genre. Williams’ setlist on Saturday featured songs by both him and his father, such as “Your Cheatin’ Heart,” “Kaw-Liga,” “Take a Knee, Take a Hike,” “A Country Boy Can Survive” and “All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight.”
“I am very proud of my daddy’s name,” Williams set before jumping into his last song of the evening: “Family Tradition.”
From the way he holds his instruments to the way he tells his stories and changes his hats with each different number, Williams has a lot of attitude in his stage presence, and showgoers seemed to enjoy every minute of it.
After these opening acts, audience members were most eager to see headliner Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Though a 1977 plane crash that killed three band members and time has taken even more since, Lynyrd Skynyrd still rocks on with original member Gary Rossington joined by original singer Ronnie Van Zant’s younger brother Johnny Van Zant as well as Rickey Medlocke, Mark “Sparky” Matejka, Michael Cartellone, Johnny Colt, Peter Keys, Dale Krantz Rossington and Carol Chase.
This lineup performed all of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s major hits including “Saturday Night Special,” “Tuesday’s Gone,” “That Smell,” “Gimme Three Steps,” “What’s Your Name?” and “Simple Man.”
“Thank you for keeping Lynyrd Skynyrd music alive all these years,” Van Zant said to the SPAC crowd between songs.
The evening ended with “Sweet Home Alabama,” followed by an unforgettable encore of “Freebird,” during which the group paid tribute to its members that are gone.
Still to come on the 2019 concert calendar at SPAC are Jason Aldean on Thursday, Cardi B on Friday and the Outlaw Music Festival featuring Willie Nelson, Bonnie Raitt and more on Saturday. Additional information about these shows is available online at spac.org.