By: Dave Ricci
When discussions of best concerts you ever saw come up and never fail to tell friends that one of, if not the best shows, I ever saw was put on best .38 Special.
Serving as the opening act for, of all bands, Black Sabbath, .38 Special came to the The Aud as part of their Special Forces Tour and put on a show to remember.
They sounded great and their stage presence combined for the full package that, in my humble opinion, outdid the far more famous Black Sabbath.
If anything has changed since that day it’s that .38 Special has gotten better.
The boys from Jacksonville, Florida played to more than 9,000 fans at Artpark in Lewiston on July 12 and showed that they were as strong as ever.
You didn’t have to wonder for too long why this show was a success. It went over with fans because it was .38 Special.
It wasn’t a mish-mash of guys you didn’t know playing under the .38 Special name.
Founding members Dan Barnes (vocals/guitar) and Donnie Van Zant (guitar/vocals) are still front and center, along with long time band mate, bassist Larry Junstrom, an extremely underrated musician.
Opening with “Rockin Into The Night,” .38 Special also played their stable of hits including “Wild-Eyed Southern Boys,” “Since You’ve Been Gone,” “If I’d Been The One,” “Second Chance,” “Like No Other Night,” “Take Me Back To Paradise” and of course their signature song and No.1 hit
“Caught Up In You,” which wrapped up the show.
Products of the Southern Rock movement of the 1970s, as 1980s wore on .38 Special’s music took more of a arena rock type of theme, yet all of their songs still retained the feel of their southern roots.
In fact what I find the most interesting about .38 Special though they have their own unique sound, even if you aren’t familiar with their work you can easily get into the music because it finds away to strike a chord of familiarity with everyone.
The most touching moment came when Donnie Van Zant spoke to the crowd about his older brother, the late, great Ronnie Van Zant, former front man of Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Donnie told everyone that Ronnie had encouraged them to follow their dreams as a band and to never give up.
Donnie then dedicated “Rebel to Rebel” to his late brother and the fallen Skynyrd members.
While the show was outstanding the true testament that .38 Special is still just a bunch of good ol’ boys actually came off stage with opening act, Dave Constantino Band.
Constantino, a Buffalo Music Hall of Famer and leader of legendary bands Talas and the Tweeds, via facebook said that he recalled Talas sharing the bill with .38 Special at a local club during the 1970s. when Barnes and Constantino met up at Artpark, Barnes looked at Dave, smiled and said, “Tonawanda, right?”
Barnes didn’t forget Talas. And it’s that kind of loyalty that keeps fans standing by .38 Special, too.
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