Audio By Carbonatix
By Martin Cizmar and Brian Bardwell
Sometimes one perspective on a show isn’t enough. So, like we did with Beck and Tool, Up on the Sun is bringing you a point/counterpoint style write-up on last night’s Lynyrd Skynyrd show. Brian Bardwell, who wrote last week’s music feature advancing last night’s show at Celebrity Theatre is a huge fan of the Jacksonville-bred band. Music editor Martin Cizmar is largely indifferent toward them. Here’s what they thought:
Cizmar: I knew this was going to be a good show when, before I even parked my car, I saw a gentleman being arrested for an alleged assault of the domestic variety. Stereotypically Skynyrdy, yes, but also hilarious and sad.
Bardwell: And the man seemed sincerely aghast when the cops explained that you can’t put your hands on your wife just because she’s trying to tell them you beat her. These folks are salt-of-the-earth types, and they dont cotton to your “enlightened” practices. If you want to see some guys who’ve read Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus, my dad would love to take you to a Michael Bublé concert.
Cizmar: I’m hard pressed to think of a better Phoenix crowd off the top of my head. Before the show even started we were locked in a figure-eight neck hug by Tyler, the dude behind us. What a warm, friendly and exuberant bunch of people. They stood the whole time, cheering loudly and happily. Great vibe.
Bardwell: Definitely. I think you enjoyed Tyler more than I did,
but you couldn’t feel him spitting on you when he talked. Overall, the
crowd delivered on the energy, as did the band. In last week’s
interview, guitarist Rickey Medlocke said these guys would give a hell
of a show, line-up changes be damned. And they did. The long-timers
laid it out there, and the newbies did a solid job faithfully
reproducing the original music and looking vaguely Southern.
Cizmar: Do these guys really need three guitars? I submit they do not.
Bardwell:
The answer is two-fold: Yes, and you obviously just don’t get it. Most
of the time there’s some overlap in the playing, but during the bridges
and solos, there are very distinct guitar patterns coming from each
guitar. Especially during “Sweet Home Alabama” and “Free Bird.” Pay
closer attention.
Cizmar: Of all the rednecky stuff
Skynyrd pulls — like the Confederate flags they’re always waving — I
think the “Watergate does not bother me, does your conscience bother
you?” in “Sweet Home Alabama” bothers me the most. Maybe they can
update it to “George Bush’s sanctioning of Lynndie England-style ‘terrorist’ torture does not bother me, does your conscience bother you?”
Bardwell:
I know you refuse to believe it, but that song wasn’t entirely serious.
The point wasn’t, “We’re from the South, segregation is awesome, and
fuck you guys.” At the time, the whole country was a political
shitshow, and they didn’t want the South singled out and painted with a
broad brush all at once. But if the lyrics are too edgy for you, check
out the cover version by Alabama, who stripped out the verse and subbed
in something about the football teams down there. As a side note, I’m
not sure I saw a single Confederate flag up there tonight. The fans had
them, but the Stars and Bars that used to be wrapped around Johnny Van
Zant’s mic stand were replaced with the Stars and Stripes.
Cizmar:
Are you serious? The piano had a combo of the American and Confederate flags on it and so I believe the mic stand also had both. Speaking of familiar things not there: where the fuck was “Tuesday’s Gone” is this set? My favorite Skynyrd
song is like a condensed but equally bittersweet version of “Free
Bird,” without all the fat.
Bardwell: I’ll be honest: I
didn’t miss it a bit. Skynyrd is all right mellow, but seven minutes is
too much for me, especially at a live show where playing it means
sacrificing two or three less-played gems like “Call Me the Breeze”
and “I Know a Little.”
Cizmar: I will say this about the
Skynyrd fans: They smoke the good shit. I’m used to smelling the reek
of cheap weed at shows but during “Free Bird,” the sole encore
offering, our section smelled like Amsterdam.
Bardwell: And God bless ’em. This is the fourth Skynyrd show I’ve been to, and that smell is as reliable as the song that accompanied it.
Setlist:
Skynyrd Nation
What’s Your Name?
That Smell
Gimme Back My Bullets
I Know a Little
Simple Man
Mini-medley: Whiskey Rock-a-Roller, Down South Jukin’, The Needle and the Spoon
Still Unbroken
Gimme Three Steps
Call Me The Breeze
Sweet Home Alabama
Free Bird
Critic’s Notebook
Last Night: Lynyrd Skynyrd at Celebrity Theatre.
Better Than: George Jones at Celebrity. Both are legendary Southern acts who had their biggest success in the 70s, but Skynyrd seems to be a little further from their twilight than No Show Jones.
Personal Bias: Explained above.
Random Fact: The classiest piece of merch Skynyrd sells has to be the full-size confederate flag with “Lynyrd Skynyrd” printed on it. Badass
