All of a sudden and out of the blue here’s a live album by the Van Zant brothers that sees the light of day! This is a show which was recorded ten years ago, on January 28th 2006 to be precise, in one of the show for the only tour Johnny and Donnie ever did. Actually, according to the press release that comes with the album this is also the only show recorded ever!
Naturally, as the tour follows the release of the successful “Get Right With The Man” (No.2 on the country charts and No.21 on Billboard 200) the 14-song set we’ve got here is predominated by material from that album. Of course, there is some highlights from Skynyrd and .38 Special, so we enjoy “Wild Eyed Southern Boys”, as well as “Red, White & Blue” (from “Vicious Cycle” which was Lynyrd Skynyrd’s current release) and of course the Southern rock anthem, “Sweet Home Alabama”. It’s also worth noting that there is “My Kind Of Country” played here, which was actually released on the next album by the brothers in 2007 and it was their last until now. We’d really like to listen to some of the stuff from the amazing first two albums, but unfortunately there’s nothing here and the same goes for Johnny’s solo career that has some true AOR gems…
Johnny’s and Donnie’s performance is amazing. If you’ve listened to any of their albums together you know exactly what to expect. They complete one another, doing dual vocals, taking lead, I swear that they’ve got the Honkettes on the back and the band kicks ass! Their style goes more towards country with steel guitar and violin wherever they are needed and with the inevitable little speech about Jesus and all that.
“Red, White & Blue” is welcome, even with a 10-year delay! Do you think that they are going to make another album together? Who know, but until then make sure that you play this one loud, take the beers out of the freezer and start the fire for the barbecue…
