Lynyrd Skynyrd boogie on down in Birmingham

May 29 2009 by Andrew Coleman, Birmingham Mail

REVIEW

LYNYRD SKYNYRD

NIA Academy

BIRMINGHAM, England, or Birmingham, Alabama? It was hard to tell last night as Lynyrd Skynyrd brought their own brand of southern boogie to the NIA.

With temperatures reaching summer levels outside the arena the band soon had the mercury rising inside with their southern fried musical nuggets.

Despite labelling it the ‘God & Guns Tour’ after their forthcoming album, there were no new songs aired - in fact the whole set was from pre-1977 albums, so we were treated to 90 minutes of tried and tested classics.

But Skynyrd are a band never far from tragedy. Three members, including lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, died in a plane crash in ‘77. His brother, Johnny, took over as frontman in 1987 and now only guitarist Gary Rossington remains the original line-up.

Two members who died this year, keyboardist Billy Powell and bassist Ean Evans, were remembered last night as Johnny dedicated hit Simple Man to them.

The gig really came to life after a mid-set medley that included Down South Jukin’.

VERDICT: HHHHI

ANDY COLEMAN