Lynyrd Skynyrd rocks Valley Fair crowd

A rowdy, happy crowd of more than 18,000 braved light rain to sing and sway along and jet back in the time machine to days of classic Southern rock past, and judging by the smiles and hollers they were feeling free as a bird throughout.

All redneck swag, “Down South Jukin’” had a rough, roundhouse feel, with a feisty guitar groove. Boasting flaming guitar licks and a host of heavenly harmonies wafting in the air, “That Smell” didn’t stink; in fact, just the opposite. And “Saturday Night Special” was shot through with hot lead with Michael Cartellone’s machine gun drum bursts, Gary Rossington and Rickey Medlocke’s magnum blasts of guitar and Johnny Van Zant’s deadeye vocals.

The band’s stage setup was as classic as their riffs. A standard and sturdy arc of lights and speakers haloed the stage, flanked by two giant video screens displaying the band in action and backed by one massive sheet that fired off a psychedelic panapoly of groovy, trippy images. You could easily imagine that it was the exact same setup the band has used during its entire four-decade existence. But then again, why break it if it isn’t broken? And judging by the fans’ reaction, whatever Skynyrd’s got sure isn’t broken.

“How many die-hard Lynyrd Skynyrd fans are there out there?” Van Zant drawled as the crowd erupted in cheers and the opening guitar of “I Know A Little” crackled in. The tune had a down home country feel that was both third beer buzzy and juke joint jiving in a Jerry Lee Lewis kinda way, and the crowd bopped right along.

“If you’re die-hard Skynyrd fans and real Americans, you’ll join in on the chorus to this next song with us,” Van Zant said, leading into “Simple Man,” and guiding thousands of voices in a solemn tribute to American soldiers as a touching video played upon the big screen in the background.

Solemn and anthemic, “Tuesday’s Gone” was a flowing, powerful and wonderfully rendered trek through the mists of memory and fans jumped and danced with the waggling piano notes of “Gimme Three Steps.”

I’m not going to pretend to be some huge Lynyrd Skynyrd fan. I’m not. I’ll listen to their stuff on the radio, sometimes, when it’s on, but that’s about it.

But as a reviewer, it’s my job to report honestly on the show I see, and I’ve got nothing bad to say about the one I witnessed Friday night. The band sounded terrific, the musicianship was tight and talented, the stage setup was classic and the performance was entertaining. I asked some of the fans around me if this was in line with a typical Skynyrd show and they enthusiastically sung the band’s praises while demonstrating their ample happiness in their cheers.

And those cheers were no louder than they were for the band’s last two tracks.

“I think it’s time for the South to rise again!” Van Zant bellowed as a crowd of Yankees ironically cheered and the iconic first notes of “Sweet Home Alabama” poured out of the speakers like sweet tea on a magnolia-scented Sunday afternoon.

Thousands of voices raised into the rainy night, belting out the chorus as that insistent guitar chugged forth, spurred by that ebullient piano, before ripping into the timeless country rock gospel finale.

But, of course, it wasn’t the show’s finale.

There was still the matter of a certain oft-requested tune.

Cresting off a lengthy piano and guitar intro accompanied by a trippy video presentation, the triumphant “Freebird” soared in over a landscape of lighters and lit up faces.

“If I leave here tomorrow …” Van Zant crooned, and given the length of the song, that became a distinct possibility. But it was all good, a triumphant, powerful, fun, audience-pleasing sing-along to end a great concert at a Midwest fair on a late summer night.

I mean, really, you had to love it. Or, at least, I, and the 18,000 or so others in attendance, certainly had to.

“God bless America,” Van Zant called into the microphone, igniting cheers.

Darn straight, Johnny. Darn straight.