Both iconic bands are on their Sharped Dressed Simple Man Tour
Two giants of southern rock put on a three-plus-hour concert that served as a celebration of the music they both pioneered. ZZ Top and Lynyrd Skynyrd delivered everything fans would want and more.
ZZ Top went first. Frontman Billy Gibbons was as stoic as ever. His stage persona is part man-of-the-wild (with that iconic beard) and part guitar-playing robot. Gibbons’ voice bellows out the hits with his famous growl that can turn into a high-flying whale. The lower his guitar goes, the more guttural his voice. Conversely, the brighter his strings, the higher he sings. (Yes, that rhymed.)
Elwood Francis is an amiable Dusty Hill stand-in. He looks ever the part with a gray mop-top and beard, his eyes obfuscated by sunglasses. And boy, can he play! He and Gibbons have their respective long necks in sync as though they were together for years. They might as well have been; he was Hill’s guitar tech before his ascension.
Frank Beard (ironically the only clean-shaven member) is still keeping time behind the drums, laying the bedrock for Gibbons and Elwood to bounce their strings off of. It’s hard to tell whether the Top jam or if their intricate instrumentations are so meticulously thought-out, they just feel off the cuff.
ZZ Top ran through “Got Me Under Pressure,” “Pearl Necklace,” and of course “Sharp Dressed Man” in a set spanning over a dozen songs. They returned to encore with “Brown Sugar,” “Tube Snake Boogie,” and “La Grange.” Elwood’s bass-slapping reverberated throughout the pavilion on “Give Me All Your Lovin’l
Elwood and Gibbons both shined in rhinestone-adorned, leaf-patterned jackets. They choreographed some fancy guitar neck moves that added a touch of camp to their otherwise straight-laced jam.
Lynyrd Skynyrd took the stage as the darkness grew over rural Virginia. They gave their hits and more; “Workin’ for MCA” opened the show. “Skynyrd Nation” followed, providing an anthem for fans to jam to. Of course, “Simple Man,” “Call Me the Breeze,” “Gimme Three Steps” and “Sweet Home Alabama” were present–and loud–among other numbers.
Van Zant wore a ripped denim vest, and jeans emblazoned with the group’s iconic skull-and-flag logo. Said emblem also graced Peter Keys’ pearly white keyboard shell.
Van Zant sounded great, his blue-collar voice soaring across 14 songs, which also included “What’s Your Name” and “That Smell.” His mic stand shimmered with “Skynyrd 50” down it’s glittery side.
Many fear Skynyrd’s run with ZZ Top may be their last go-round. For good reason. The band was supposed to wrap in 2020. And then, well, 2020 happened. In 2021, they abandoned the final tour moniker. But the last remaining OG Skynyrd member, Gary Rossington died in 2023.
But the band still had that inimitable Lynyrd Skynyrd energy. It should be a concert-going rite-of-passage to hear “Free Bird” (which, of course, was the encore) played live by the group that made it a cultural phenomenon. Sure, none of the current members were on the 1973 recording. But they are connected to that original group. They played with the late Rossington for years; Ronnie’s brother Johnny Van Zandt has been the voice of Skynyrd for generations of fans; and Rickey Medlocke has had ties to the band since before the superstardom. So any complaints that Skynyrd is reduced to a “cover band” are utter BS.
In an odd way, the fact that there are no original members left made this set feel special. The screen above Lynyrd Skynyrd flashed throughout the night with the phrase, THEIR LEGACY LIVES ON. The musicians on stage were honoring a legacy stretching back 60 years. That has been the modus operandi for Skynyrd, going back to the years after the fateful plane crash: Keep the music alive because it is bigger than one person. Its place in culture means it must continue to be shared by people with a connection to its roots. And that exchange of reverence between fan and band was palpable in Bristow.
And here’s a thought I had all night while listening to that music: Induct both ZZ Top and Lynyrd Skynyrd into the Country Music Hall of Fame. They have earned it for the way they widened the appeal of the genre into the rock space, just as Garth Brooks and The Judds stretched country music into the pop realm. Without these bands, there is no Charlie Daniels. There is no Toby Keith. Without these guys, there is no Southern Rock. Period.
