There might not be another band with a history like Lynyrd Skynyrd, from tragedy to success, they have experience both at least 5 times over. However, after 50 years they are still here and still bringing their southern rock to audiences all around the world. For the celebration of 50 years, Lynyrd Skynyrd came out of their 3 year tour retirement to tour the country with ZZ Top. The tour would be called “Sharp Dressed Simple Man Tour” with Uncle Kracker being the opener for the tour. With the tour hitting major cities through the summer months, the tour would not only celebrate the legacy of these bands, but also be the tour of the summer.

Being an opener of a tour can be tough, everyone is still filing in or in line at the concessions. However, for Uncle Kracker, he had a fairly packed room and by the time “Follow Me” was playing the crowd was gravitating towards the stage. With a short set, Uncle Kracker played a eight song set that featured all his hit songs, a cover of Kenny Chesney’s ‘When The Sun Goes Down’, and hit latest single ‘Reason To Drink’. Through his whole set Uncle Kracker would not be standing in one place, and having a smile on his face throughout the evening. Uncle Kracker didn’t have to prove himself as an opener, because each time he started a song, the crowd would cheer because you can tell these songs brought back good memories in their life. This could be true for his last two songs of his set, ‘Smile’ and ‘Drift Away’ because these two songs got the most reaction where the latter had the crowd singing back the chorus as loud as they could. One could say that to have a good time and see a musician having a good time, go see Uncle Kracker. As for Arkansas, they don’t have to wait long because on October 20th, he will be headlining the Arkansas State Fair, and I can bet it will be a longer set and still a fun time.

As the sun began to set, co-headliner ZZ Top took the stage, and in a typical ZZ Top way with a massive guitar played by Elwood Francis. With the recent passing of Dusty Hill, it should be noted that he urged the band to continue with guitar tech Elwood Francis on bass. Elwood’s calm and cool looking attitude fits right in with ZZ Top’s aesthetic. Bustling through their 15 song set, ZZ Top hit on all their hits with playing almost something from each album. The change of guitar models alone are fun to see because some of the styles they show seem to be one of kind. The personal highlight of the show though was when they played “Gimme All Your Lovin'”. Growing up in the 90’s the movie The Santa Clause with Tim Allen was a staple at Christmas time and for those that’ve seen the movie will recognize ZZ Top’s song at the end montage. I can’t listen to “Gimme All Your Lovin'” with out envisioning that scene, where Tim Allen, as Santa Clause doing that walk down the hall with elves and stopping at each step with an arm pose. Even the imagine of ZZ Top is burned into my brain because of the Bill & Ted movies. The band is an icon because the unique music videos they did along with their style, which heavily crossed over in movies. Songs played like “I Gotsta Get Paid” and “Sharp Dressed Man” are just as important to ZZ Top’s legacy, but for me “Gimme All Your Lovin'” is a key song of theirs. As this is a co-headline tour after ZZ Top finished their set, they came back with an encore of three songs, but not with out some comedic banter and final recognition to Dusty Hill. For how serious ZZ Top looks, they are a funny trio that seems to love to have fun on stage and not be too serious regardless of their look. For over 50 years ZZ Top has been playing their hard rock blues and after 50 years they are still one of the most unique and finest musicians around.

Before Lynyrd Skynyrd took the stage, they presented everyone with a short intro film that hit in the right nostalgia gut. The film was something every music fan has gone through, discovering their favorite band. The video depicted a kid learning who Lynyrd Skynyrd is and then consuming every form of media of them, to then jumping around the room with a guitar in complete happiness. A feeling I think we all have felt at one point in our lives with music. From there they jumped right into “Workin’ For MCA” and as far as ‘legacy’ bands go, Lynyrd Skynyrd isn’t fooling around. Not only does Johnny Van Zant keep the crowd singing through out the night, but the three axe men, Rickey Medlocke, Mark Matejka, & Damon Johnson move and solo better than many younger players out there now. The energy and kinship between all the members of Lynyrd Skynyrd is unmatched, but after these members have been playing music for 50 years it clearly comes natural.

The setlist that Lynyrd Skynyrd played through was the ultimate greatest hits setlist. From “What’s Your Name” to “That Smell” to “Gimme Three Steps” the songs that were played were songs that everyone has heard at least once in their life. Even though you might have heard them once, you probably know the words because Lynyrd Skynyrd songs have the perfect ear worm to get stuck in your head. As the band progressed through the night, they showed no signs of slowing down and the same could be said about the crowd. As “Sweet Home Alabama” started, even though this was Arkansas, the crowd’s reaction would’ve made you think it was Sweet Home Arkansas because the crowd singing was almost louder than Johnny. During “Tuesday’s Gone” the band paid tribute to recently passed guitarist Gary Rossington, and during their encore of “Free Bird” they paid tribute to everyone in Lynyrd Skynyrd with a wonderful and touching video in the background. It’s always a joke that no band can cover “Free Bird” and there is a reason for that, Lynyrd Skynyrd plays it the best and only they should play it live. Even though it’s been 50 years, Lynyrd Skynyrd is still at the top of their game, and even though bands like this would probably like to retire, shows like this are the reason us fans wish they could live on forever.