Lynyrd Skynyrd Tribute Tour

The Lynyrd Skynyrd Tribute Tour was a tour that was undertaken to pay tribute to the original band members who died in a plane crash in 1977. The tour began in the fall of 1987, in honor of the 10-year anniversary of the plane crash. A number of surviving members reunited for the tour. Original members Gary Rossington, Billy Powell and Leon Wilkeson were joined by Ed King (original member who had left the band in 1975), Artimus Pyle (drummer at the time of the plane crash), Randall Hall and Johnny Van Zant.

Lynyrd Skynyrd Tribute Tour
Tour by Lynyrd Skynyrd
Associated albumLynyrd Skynyrd Live: Southern by the Grace of God
Start dateSeptember 23, 1987
End dateSeptember 25, 1988
No. of shows84
Lynyrd Skynyrd concert chronology

History

Rossington, who had formed the original band with lead singer Ronnie Van Zant was initially reluctant to do the tour. He was, in the words of his wife Dale Krantz-Rossington, still "very emotional" about the preceding events and about the anniversary of the plane crash. Eventually, Rossington decided that if the tour was to be done right, and if his fallen colleagues were to be honored properly, that he should be involved.

Original guitarist and founding member, Allen Collins, was unable to play as a result of being paralyzed in a car crash in 1986. Collins served as musical director for the tour, picking setlists and making cameo appearances onstage. He chose former bandmate Randall Hall (who had played with Collins in the Allen Collins Band) to take his spot.

Ronnie Van Zant's youngest brother, Johnny, was chosen to assume the role of lead vocalist. Other candidates were considered, including Paul Rodgers (of Free and Bad Company fame). Ronnie had been a huge Paul Rodgers fan and even owned a boat named "Bad Company" at one point. Ultimately though, it was Johnny who was deemed to be the best replacement for his brother.

The first leg of the tour was enormously successful. Moved by the loyalty and reaction of the fans, the band elected to add a second leg (which ran through the summer of 1988). The Tribute Tour Band played an inspired selection of classic Skynyrd tunes and ended the show with a heart-wrenching instrumental version of Free Bird.

The Rossington Band opened for the entire tour, playing a mixture of Rossington band original material and earlier material from the Rossington/Collins Band era. Dale Krantz-Rossington sang lead vocals for the Rossington Band and backup vocals for the Skynyrd set. Between the Rossington Band set and the Skynyrd set, old videos of the original Skynyrd band were shown on the bigscreen featuring full length versions of such songs as "T for Texas", "Don't Ask Me No Questions", "Cry for the Bad Man" and "Whiskey Rock-A-Roller".

Typical setlist

Tour dates
Date[1][2] City Country Venue
Leg 1
September 23, 1987 Concord United States Concord Pavilion
September 24, 1987 Reno Lawlor Events Center
September 25, 1987 Sacramento Cal Expo Amphitheatre
September 26, 1987 Mountain View Shoreline Amphitheatre
September 27, 1987 Irvine Irvine Meadows
September 28, 1987 Los Angeles Universal Amphitheatre
September 29, 1987 Wheeling Wheeling Civic Center
September 30, 1987 St. Louis St. Louis Arena
October 1, 1987 Cincinnati Cincinnati Gardens
October 2, 1987 Chicago UIC Pavilion
October 3, 1987 Detroit Joe Louis Arena
October 4, 1987 Pittsburgh Civic Arena
October 6, 1987 Landover Capital Centre
October 8, 1987 Worcester Centrum
October 9, 1987 Uniondale Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
October 10, 1987 New Haven Veterans Memorial Coliseum
October 11, 1987 Philadelphia Spectrum
October 14, 1987 Atlanta Omni Coliseum
October 15, 1987
October 16, 1987 Jacksonville Jacksonville Coliseum
October 17, 1987 Tampa Sun Dome
October 19, 1987 Charlotte Charlotte Coliseum
October 20, 1987 Birmingham Birmingham–Jefferson Convention Complex
October 23, 1987 Antioch Starwood Amphitheatre
October 24, 1987 Indianapolis Market Square Arena
October 25, 1987 Richfield Richfield Coliseum
October 27, 1987 Norman Lloyd Noble Center
October 29, 1987 Memphis Mid-South Coliseum
October 30, 1987 Biloxi Gulf Coast Coliseum
October 31, 1987 Houston The Summit
November 1, 1987 Dallas Reunion Arena
Leg 2
May 14, 1988 Pensacola United States Pensacola Civic Center
May 15, 1988 Tallahassee Leon County Civic Center
May 17, 1988 New Orleans UNO Lakefront Arena
May 18, 1988 Shreveport Hirsch Memorial Coliseum
May 19, 1988 Jackson Mississippi Coliseum
May 21, 1988 Lexington Rupp Arena
May 22, 1988 Johnson City Freedom Hall Civic Center
May 23, 1988 Knoxville Knoxville Civic Coliseum
May 25, 1988 Columbia Carolina Coliseum
May 26, 1988 Savannah Savannah Civic Center
May 28, 1988 Orlando Orange County Convention Center
May 29, 1988 Pembroke Pines Hollywood Sportatorium
May 31, 1988 Chattanooga UTC Arena
June 1, 1988 Roanoke Roanoke Civic Center
June 2, 1988 Greensboro Greensboro Coliseum
June 4, 1988 Charlotte Charlotte Memorial Stadium
June 5, 1988 Atlanta Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium
June 7, 1988 Cuyahoga Falls Blossom Music Center
June 8, 1988 Pittsburgh Civic Arena
June 9, 1988 Clarkston Pine Knob Music Theater
June 11, 1988 East Troy Alpine Valley Music Theatre
June 12, 1988 Thornville Buckeye Lake Music Center
June 15, 1988 Bloomington Met Center
June 16, 1988 Cedar Rapids Five Seasons Center
June 18, 1988 Peoria Peoria Civic Center
June 19, 1988 Kansas City Sandstone Center for the Performing Arts
June 20, 1988 Omaha Omaha Civic Auditorium
June 23, 1988 Salt Lake City Salt Palace
June 27, 1988 Portland Starry Night
June 29, 1988 Tacoma Tacoma Dome
July 1, 1988 Sacramento Cal Expo Amphitheatre
July 2, 1988 Mountain View Shoreline Amphitheatre
July 3, 1988 Concord Concord Pavilion
August 8, 1988 Universal City Universal Amphitheatre
August 16, 1988 Costa Mesa Pacific Amphitheatre
August 17, 1988 Chandler Compton Terrace
August 20, 1988 Morrison Red Rocks Amphitheatre
August 21, 1988
August 23, 1988 Des Moines Veterans Memorial Auditorium
August 24, 1988 St. Louis Fox Theatre
August 26, 1988 Syracuse New York State Fairgrounds
August 27, 1988 Manchester Riverfront Park
August 29, 1988 Mansfield Great Woods Center for the Performing Arts
September 1, 1988 Saratoga Saratoga Performing Arts Center
September 2, 1988 Portland Cumberland County Civic Center
September 4, 1988 Allentown Fairground Grandstand
September 6, 1988 New York City The Ritz
(Miami Project To Cure Paralysis Benefit)
September 7, 1988 East Rutherford Meadowlands Arena
September 8, 1988 Uniondale Nassau Coliseum
September 10, 1988 Landover Capital Centre
September 15, 1988 Philadelphia Spectrum
September 16, 1988 Darien Lakeside Amphitheater
September 18, 1988 Charleston Charleston Civic Center
September 22, 1988 Trotwood Hara Arena
September 23, 1988 Louisville Louisville Gardens
September 24, 1988 Huntsville Von Braun Civic Center
September 25, 1988 Antioch Starwood Amphitheater

Personnel

References
  1. Lynyrd Skynyrd Gigography, Tour History | Songkick
  2. The Great Rock Discography (third edition) by M.C.Strong
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