Southern Rock made a stop along The Erie Canal this past Friday night at the historic Palace Theatre in Lockport, N.Y. For over 35 years Molly Hatchet has been entertaining fans with live shows, and 18 albums to date. They were joined by felllow southern rockers, The Jimmie Van Zant Band.
The Jimmie Van Zant Band got The Palace jumping with a lengthy opening set. Fans were dancing in the aisles and singing along to hits like “Simple Man”, “What’s Your Name”, ” and “Sweet Home Alabama”.
When Molly Hatchet took the stage, the singing continued as more of the crowd got into the act. Guitarists Dave Hlubek and Bobby Ingram demonstrated what two tandem guitars do when they compliment each other so well. It’s an infectious groove that one cannot help but move to and Hatchet created that groove on Friday night.
About halfway through their 14 song set, Lead Singer Phil McCormack had some issues with his mic stand. Though he was trying to play his way through it, Jimmie Van Zant got to make a cameo as he came out and offered his and the sow went one without any further hiccups. They finished their set with an Allman Brothers cover “Dreams I’ll Never See”. Hatchet left the stage for the obligatory encore chant.
They started their encore with a tribute to Bassist Tim Lindsey’s best friend, the late Lynyrd Skynyrd keyboardist, Bill Powell, by playing a strong cover of “Free Bird”. They closed the night with their mega hit “Flirtin’ With Disaster”. The night ended as it started, with everyone singing and dancing in the aisles.
I left The Palace with a feeling of fulfillment. More importantly though, this show meant a great deal to the City of Lockport and The Palace itself. As a lifelong resident of Lockport, I’ve seen The Palace through it’s ups and downs, mostly the downs. To see something special like this happen inside this historic theatre, makes me wonder if the glory days I’ve only heard stories of, may be returning once again in the near future?
Molly Hatchet Set List:
Whiskey Man
Bounty Hunter
Gator Country
American Pride
Fall of the Peacemakers
Justice
Drum Solo
Beatin’ The Odds
Gonna Liv ’til I Die
In the Darkness of the Light
Jukin’ City
Dreams I’ll Never See (Allman Brothers cover)
Encore:
Freebird (Lynyrd Skynyrd cover)
Flirtin’ with Disaster
We would like to thank Gary Chapman for allowing BackstageAxxess to review the show.
