On Monday, July 4, Flint’s Whitey Morgan & the 78s will perform at the DTE Energy Music Theater (or Pine Knob, for the old timers) with Lynyrd fuckin’ Skynyrd.
Now, before anyone starts hootin’ and hollerin’ (see, I’m gettin’ into the spirit) about how this ain’t the real Skynyrd, and that the genu-Ine article hasn’t existed since a ’77 plane crash killed Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines and Cassie Gaines, well now, why would you want to take the fun out of this for Morgan and his cohorts?
The truth is, even with Gary Rossington the only original Skynyrd man left, even with Johnny Van Zant fronting the band, Whitey Morgan & the 78s is the perfect band for this gig. As Morgan said to me during an interview for a Metro Times feature a couple of years ago, “I’ve been through every kind of band there is, from rock to metal to indie rock – I’ve played every kind of music. Obviously, country is where it all started but it’s hard for me to say that this is a country band because it’s not just a country band. If people hear it when we play live, it definitely has a rock energy. Coming from Detroit, there’s always going to be a little bit of rock in there. For me to give an authentic interpretation of what I’m trying to do, I can never say that it’s just country. That’s not where I completely come from. I can’t go to Texas and tell them that we’re a country band because they can tell by how loud we are on stage that there’s something else going on. We’re from Detroit, and you can’t get away from where you come from. So I would say that we’re country with a rock edge.”
That’s exactly right, sir. And if they have any sense, the Skynyrd fans will lap it up. The show starts at 7.30 p.m. Tickets start at $19 and go up to $382 for the rich and/or stupid.
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