Lynyrd Skynyrd, .38 Special making Vegas a Southern city
It’s a shame there aren’t enough Van Zants to spread around on this Southern rock weekend.
In one of those strange quirks of Las Vegas bookings, country-fried rock fans have to scrape up enough Bud money to cover a two-nighter with Lynyrd Skynyrd on Saturday at the Golden Nugget and .38 Special on Sunday at the Eastside Cannery.
Skynyrd’s singer of recent years is Johnny Van Zant, who is the younger brother of .38 Special’s longtime lead singer Donnie Van Zant. Inner-ear nerve damage forced Donnie into retirement last year, leaving the singing of hits such as “Hold on Loosely” and “Caught Up in You” to Don Barnes and Danny Chauncey.
It seems .38 Special has a show booked in California on Saturday, as Skynyrd does on Sunday. So much for showing up at each others’ Las Vegas gigs.
Fans are going to have to figure out on their own when to yell “Free Bird” and when it’s time for “Rockin’ Into the Night.”
Contact reporter Mike Weatherford at mweatherford@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0288.