Lynyrd Skynyrd: Pronounced 'Leh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd & Second Helping Live from Jacksonville at the Florida Theatre

Playing in 2015 at the Florida Theatre in their hometown of Jacksonville, ‘70s heyday Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd here perform in their entirety the band's 1973 first and 1974 second albums—sort of. The qualifier is because this iteration of Lynyrd Skynyrd is pretty close to a tribute band—boasting only one original member who played on those early albums: guitarist Gary Rossington. Lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, who died along with other band members in a tragic 1977 plane crash, has been replaced with his younger brother, Johnny Van Zant, whose voice sounds similar, although his constant lyric-interpretive hand signals grow tiresome and he takes American flag worship a little too far (one flag on the back of his jacket, another wrapped around the mic stand—Stars and Stripes, not the previously favored controversial Confederate flag). The seven-man band (and two backup singers) delivers the group's signature three-guitar attack—backed by bass, drums, keyboards (and an extra horns and percussion rhythm section on some songs)—on now-classic rock hits including “I Ain't the One,” “Tuesday's Gone,” “Simple Man,” and “Call Me the Breeze,” as well as the megahits “Free Bird” and “Sweet Home Alabama” (with its infamous dig against Neil Young, although it would be hard to deny the inspiration of Young's earlier “The Needle and the Damage Done” on Lynyrd Skynyrd's hard-rock “The Needle and the Spoon” here). Ultimately, this is a mixed bag. Does Rossington's extended solo on “Free Bird” still feel like one of the greatest guitar riffs in the history of rock? Yes, it does. But while not quite oldies-tribute-band-on-the-casino-circuit material, this is also not exactly vibrant freeform rock ‘n roll (although this band was never much into improv jamming). And the caustic, biting slam against their record label, “Workin' for MCA,” loses some sting here, considering that the parent label for this release is Universal Music Group (as in formerly MCA/Universal—cue Alanis Morissette). Presented in DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1 and stereo on DVD, and DTS-HD 5.1 and LPCM stereo on Blu-ray, extras include a backstage interview with band members. A strong optional purchase. (R. Pitman)