POP MUSIC REVIEW : ‘LYNYRD SKYNYRD’: A TRIBUTE OF WORTH

A good indicator of the atmosphere of Sunday’s “Tribute to Lynyrd Skynyrd” concert at Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre was the enthusiastic audience reaction to film clips of the original band shown during the set change. The clips drew as much hearty applause and cheers as the reconstituted band did during its performance.

Clearly, the 10,000 or so fans came to celebrate the memory of the Southern rock band that went into eclipse in 1977 when lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines and singer Cassie Gaines were killed in a plane crash.

For the tribute show, which also was scheduled to play the Universal Amphitheatre on Monday, surviving Skynyrd members Gary Rossington, Billy Powell, Leon Wilkeson, Artimus Pyle and Ed King were reunited, with Johnny Van Zant--Ronnie’s brother--taking over lead vocals and thereby re-creating the old Skynyrd sound remarkably well.

While the group started in 1973 as just another bunch of boogie-’n’-partyin’-good-ol’ boys with songs carrying self-explanatory titles like “Whiskey Rock-A-Roller,” they evolved into a more thought-provoking band that often questioned and played against Southern stereotypes in the anti-handgun song “Saturday Night Special” and the chillingly ironic death-warning “That Smell.”

In addition, Skynyrd hits like “You Got That Right” and “What’s Your Name” were immensely well-crafted singles that benefited from appealing twin (and occasionally triple) guitar leads that were accurately revisited Sunday by Rossington, King and additional tribute-band guitarist Randall Hall.

Rossington’s current Rossington Band opened with a comparatively one-dimensional set of ham-fisted rockers during which lead singer Dale Krantz Rossington, who also contributed backup vocals during the Skynyrd set, offered little more than a perpetual scowl.