STREETERS - TRAVERSE CITY, MICHIGAN - APRIL 25, 2003

Dixie Heads North

I’m a little old-fashioned and haven’t been able to keep up with contemporary rock.  My heyday was spent listening to what is now considered “Classic Rock”.  And except for a very few bands (Gov’t Mule, Derek Trucks, Hellecasters and a few others), I’m still stuck in the 70’s.  Pathetic, perhaps.  The big difference I see between current AOR and that of yesteryear is the authenticity and originality.  Lynyrd Skynyrd and The Outlaws came from the same era, and both were excellent bands.  But you could never confuse one for the other.  You just can’t say that about today’s top acts.  If you’ve heard one ‘Hair Band’, you’ve heard them all.

That’s why I was geeked when I heard the Southern Rock Allstars were coming to town.  Featuring members from such acts as Molly Hatchet, Blackfoot and The Rossington Band, you just can’t go wrong.  Not even in the new millennium.  Nothing makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck like straight-ahead rock-n-roll, with real guitarists just tearing it up.  And Jay Johnson and Duane Roland did just that.  Cranking out classics like Gator Country and Bounty Hunter you’d swear you were listening to circa 1980 Molly Hatchet.  I don’t think even Molly Hatchet themselves could have played them any better.  Throw in Beatin’ The Odds, Dreams I’ll Never See and Bloody Reunion and you’ve got your run-of-the-mill SRA train wreck bearing down on you.  And Jimmy Farrar is the engineer.

When the show was plugged on the local radio stations, nothing was said about Jimmy Farrar being with the band.  Needless to say, it was the icing on the cake when he took the stage.  And like Jay and Duane, he nailed everything to a ‘T’.  I swear, I thought Danny Joe Brown was up there half the time.  Holding down the bottom end was Charles Hart. He fits this band like a glove and he reminded me a lot of Ean Evans.  His lines were tightly knit with drummer Jakson Spires.  Jakson is a true-blue working man's drummer.  As tight as they come, he sits almost invisible behind his drums… then the music starts.  Bringing us classics like Train, Train and Highway Song from his Blackfoot days, he never missed a beat.  They even threw in Wishing Well, one of my all-time Blackfoot favorites.

In addition to the covers, they cranked out a few originals, present on their latest CD, Danger Road.  They even threw in Mississippi Queen, Rock and Roll All Night and Cat Scratch Fever for good measure.  The guys were more than happy to sign autographs, do photo-ops and mingle with the crowd, before, during and after the show!  (They played two sets).  There’s something to be said about smaller venues.  I’ll take this show over any stadium or arena concert, any day.  Cameras are allowed in, which is a bonus because most bands don’t allow it.  I managed to take about 140 quality shots from the edge of the stage.

In short, I would go see these guys again without thinking twice.  It’s a top-notch, hard-rockin’ good time.  Best of Luck, boys!

Brian Witowski