Clyde
Auditorium Glasgow
Wednesday
27th May 2009
 On the 20th
October 1977, two significant things happened in my life. I was a young
rock fan eager to embrace all things rock n roll, it was my 17th
birthday and I had my whole life ahead of me. The second was the plane
crash in Mississippi in which several of the band Lynyrd Skynyrd were
tragically killed.
Fast
forward 32 years and I find myself amongst a throng of excited concert
goers of all ages who have travelled from all over Scotland and the
north of England to pay homage to the legendary rockers.
You could
feel the excitement in the air as Highway Star by Deep Purple faded over
the p.a. and the southern drawl of the announcer introduced LYNYRD
SKYNYRD.
 Right
from the opening bars of Working
for MCA this band made it clear that they were in Glasgow to rock!
Thundering
through amazing guitar solo’s the band delivered all the favourites Saturday
Night Special, Gimme Back My Bullets, What’s your name, and That
Smell before taking it down for Simple
Man which was haunting with superb backing vocals from the current
Honkettes and note perfect guitar licks.
A medley
of old Skynyrd songs followed, before moving on to Double
Trouble, Tuesday’s Gone, Gimme 3 Steps, and Call me the Breeze. It is very difficult to explain how much this
band were revered by the audience with Johnny Van Zant working them into
a frenzy and the rest of the band providing the power house driving
sound that was Lynyrd Skynyrd.
 Before we
knew it, an hour and twenty minutes had passed and it was “that
time”, which all the fans knew as time for Sweet
Home Alabama. Almost as one the
result was incredible with everyone on their feet singing and clapping
along to this rock anthem. Note perfect, witnessing this performed live
was truly a moment to remember.
All that
remained was Freebird and
after leaving the stage for what seemed like a very long time, the band
strode back on and delivered an outstanding live version of one of the
best rock songs ever written. Gary Rossington played the guitar solos
with total accuracy and the band rocked all the way through with the
signature three guitar line up.
32 years
after that fateful plane crash and many preceding tragedy’s that have
smitten this band, Lynyrd Skynyrd came to Scotland and rocked. I had
just witnessed a tremendous performance by one of the greatest rock
bands and it was awesome.
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