May 31, 1975 review: Lynyrd Skynyrd at the Century Theater

 


A steamed-up night in more ways than one. 

May 31, 1975 

Skynyrd Unleashes

Steamy Celebration 

          No sir, you can’t say Buffalo didn’t try to make the Lynyrd Skynyrd group feel like back home down South Friday night, at least the six out of the seven of them who showed up onstage in the nearly full Century Theater.

          There was a kid down front waving a big Confederate flag. And then there was the heat – good old bayou-swamp humidity that plastered your hair to your head.

          So maybe your “yes” was wilted when singer Ronnie Van Zant asked if you were havin’ a good time.

          Then again, he and the other guys could step back after singing something like “Whiskey Rock-A-Roller” and take some refreshment in the wings.

          Little enthusiasm was spent on the fill-in for the scheduled opener, Wet Willie.

          It was a local group, dubbed the Jack Daniels Band at the last minute, and it included singer Mondo Galla and Buffalo Jazz Ensemble players.

          The trick, after all, was to save your sweat for the big moments in this steamy celebration of the Rebel spirit.

          One was the dark intro to their anti-heroin song, “The Needle and the Spoon.” Another was the driving gun-control snarl of “Saturday Night Special.”

          But the biggest of all was the song “that almost got us in trouble last year.” Namely, “Sweet Home Alabama,” with its references to Watergate and Governor Wallace.

          Down came the band’s own Rebel flag and there were cheers of pushed-around righteousness for the line where Van Zant warns Neil Young that Southern Man don’t need him around.

          Van Zant looked like nobody pushes him around. Beefy, long-haired, dressed in black from his hat to his Foghat Road Crew T-shirt to his pant legs, he wielded that attitude like a (illegible).

          Missing their third guitarist to (illegible), the group was still the equal of any American heavy band, a claim backed up by flashing double guitars and sharp honky-tonk piano over the usually massive drums and bass.

          Harvey & Corky report tickets are available for tonight when Lynryd Skynyrd comes back for a second helping.

* * * * *

IN THE PHOTO: Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1975.

* * * * *

FOOTNOTE: Lynyrd Skynyrd tour schedules from “Nothin’ Fancy” tour in 1975 show the band playing four nights in a row at the Century Theater at the end of May, which seems a little unlikely, even though their popularity was on the upswing (the tour already had brought them to the Century in February). The review suggests that they were here for only two nights.

          There is no setlist for this date, but a live recording from the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco a month earlier (available on YouTube) has these songs:

Whiskey-Rock-A-Roller

The Needle and the Spoon

I’m a Country Boy

Gimme Three Steps

Don’t Ask Me No Questions

Saturday Night Special

Railroad Song

Call Me the Breeze

Sweet Home Alabama

On the Hunt

Free Bird

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