Album review : LYNYRD SKYNYRD – Celebrating 50 Years: Live At The Ryman (CD & DVD)

June 24th, 2025 by brianmc

Frontiers Music [Release date : 27.06.25]

“Celebrating 50 Years – Live At The Ryman”, a live album and DVD capturing Lynyrd Skynyrd’s historic 50th-anniversary concert at Nashville’s legendary venue in 2022 is due out on 27 June.

The fact that this was the late Gary Rossington’s last gig provides considerable historical perspective, especially when you add the names Ronnie Van Zant, Jim and Cassie Gaines, who lost their lives in tragic circumstances… RIP.

The neatly timed package hits the streets and the online stores just as the band head out on their first European tour for several years.

It’s an ambitious schedule, with the 15 dates kicking off in Barcelona, closing out in London on 19 July.

Then on to the USA.

Most will recognise the names Ricky Medlocke, Johnny Van Zant and Dale Krantz Rossington, but with 9 active band members on stage, it’s more of a large ensemble cast, interesting to look at and listen to, playing songs that grab at the minds and memories of those who love the music.

Then there’s the road crew, always on the move, making sure that all those moving parts stay greased and oiled.

The set list, fittingly, is biographical. ‘What’s Your Name’ and ‘Workin For The MCA’ open a set that is heavy on the early stuff, back to when it all began, with all but one of the tracks coming from their first five albums. Like ‘Down South Jukin’, ‘Red White And Blue’ and ‘Saturday Night Special’, all filled with pithy social commentary and stories of life in the raw.

A receptive audience knows every bar of music, every line of lyrics, every move they make, and joins in accordingly. This is proudly old fashioned Southern Rock.

And when three guitarists, a keyboard player and elemental rhythms crank up the engine, a Southern Rock juggernaut rolls through the night, one that’ll keep on truckin’ ’til the tank runs dry or it runs out of road.

John Osborne (The Brothers Osborne), Brent Smith (Shinedown), and Donnie Van Zant (Van Zant & .38 Special) are among the band’s special guests.

The set ends, as we would expect, with the band’s signature songs, ‘Sweet Home Alabama’, and ‘Free Bird’, between them 2.3 billion hits on Spotify.

You can’t say better than that. ****1/2

Review by Brian McGowan

The band play UK dates 15-19 July 2025.

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