38 Sounded Great

 I had heard that southern rock band 38 Special was playing a free show in Iowa on the day before the 4th. I did a little research on the band to see who was in the current line-up.  One thing that surprised me was that although not all the original members were in the band they are all still alive which is uncommon for most southern rock bands such The Allman Brothers Band and Lynyrd Skynyrd who were plagued by death in the 70's. Donnie Van Zant one of the founders and whose older brother Ronnie died in the Skynyrd plane crash is still a member of the band, but as of 2012 has not been touring due to ear problems. The band's original lead singer Don Barnes and former Skynyrd bassist Larry Junstrom who joined in 1977 are the only two from their classic period during the early 80's. The others joined the band in the late 80's and mid 90's.

We left Minneapolis at about 2:30 and screamed down I-35 because they came on at 8 and we had an almost 5 hour drive. We made it with about 10 minutes to spare. I had brought a record of Wild Eyed Southern Boys to try and get it signed like 2 years before at that same location when The Grass Roots and Herman's Hermits played. Sadly it was not to be because for the autographs there was a $20 fee. Then out came the band and they jumped right into the classics with Rockin' Into the Night. Then from there on it was hit after hit. I knew the words to most of them because I had been listening to their greatest hits lately on my iPod.

 They may have looked older but they sounded just like they did 20-25 years ago. I did take some video for my YouTube account but not as much because I felt more like singing then standing completely still to get footage that wasn't shaky. Turns out I made the right choice because most of the videos were shot near the speakers where I was standing for most of the show which wrecked the sound quality. While going though all their hits like Second Chance, Back Where you Belong and Teacher, Teacher they perfomed a cover of ZZ Tops Just Got Paid which was fantastic. During that song was when I moved closer to the stage to try get some better videos and photos. Then they played some more songs such as Trooper With an Attitude from the 2001 comedy Super Troopers and Twentieth Century Fox. Then Don Barnes performed a solo which was quite good. Then it was back to the hits this time playing three fan favorites Caught Up In You, Chain Lightnin' which included strobe lights and a fog machine and their most popular and well-kown song Hold on Loosely. Then to top it off they played another cover Travelin' Band by CCR. Danny Chauncey who joined in 1987 is on the left and Barnes is on right. Overall it was fantastic show.