I often look for nearby shows by acts I like (or would like); I'm in the DC area for a summer job.
I'm real close to the Wolf Trap / Filene Center in Vienna, VA, which means that I'll bbe able to see Skynyrd for the first time on July 27th. woohoo.

Popular music sadly seems especially full of “only the good die young” problems; from this springs the hypothetical asking which one of them you’d resurrect.

My answer? Ronnie Van Zant.
Could I cheat slightly and reverse the Skynyrd plane crash as a whole?

Freddie Mercury (45) and John Lennon (40) lived longer than some of the other names also mentioned in such discussions, so they had more time to leave us some of their best work. No doubt they could have done much more with more decades, but still. Elvis (42) and Michael Jackson (50) lived about as long, and already seem to have declined, not that I ever really got MJ anyway. Some others lived relatively full-length lives already, such as Johnny Cash (71). In that regard, Van Zant (29) and Steve Gaines (28) weren't too far ahead of the 27 club which includes Janis Joplin, Kurt Cobain and Jimi Hendrix.
This kind of question seems like it should as much be about what they could have done as what they already did.

I feel that many of the other names here were more properly appreciated in their time, whereas Skynyrd hadn't fully broken through yet; they seemed like they were about to widen their audience bigtime.

One ironic thing is that they had just started to put away/tone down the overt Confederate flags and boozing by the time of the crash - i.e. they were cleaning up parts of their act that had caused them a lot of grief.

Put it this way: What if Lennon had died before The Beatles had put together Sgt. Pepper and their subsequent albums? (Street Survivors is analogous to Revolver [which preceded Sgt. Pepper] in the context of this hypothetical.)

Has Lynyrd Skynyrd ever played a big festival? Do you think they'd like to? Would y'all like to see them in such an environment?

I put their name down amongst a couple others when the Lollapalooza staff asked 2010 attendees for a few suggestions for 2011. I had a lot of fun there in 2010, am likely returning for 2011; seeing LS as part of the program would be a bonus. Large outdoor standing crowds does amount to a pleasantly different concert experience.

I could see them with a slot of an hour or so late afternoon. (The evening headliners are the only ones who get 1.5-2.5 hours, and I don't want to see LS relegate to a

Saw the teaser video for the relatively new "Sweet Home Alabama" tribute album on LS's Youtube channel while playing some videos as background music at work today. Bought the CD from Walmart's website in the evening.

(I had heard of it a few months ago when it came out, but hadn't acted upon it)

What I've heard of it is encouraging, and I appreciate people trying to do something besides just a straight-up cover, and the fans are going to be divided with regards to such attempts anyway.

WalMart says I'll get it by the 24th, meaning I could share it with the relative who's supplied me with Skynyrd Frynds and loads of other goodies when we see him for Christmas. :cool:

Probably a good way to get myself listening to more modern-era "real country", as I check out more stuff from the artists I like on this album. I recall that their Skynyrd Frynds cover of Simple Man did get me listening to a bunch of Confederate Railroad tracks, for instance.

http://yfrog.com/64is9ej
Found this kind of amusing

This LS tribute band is kinda jumping the gun according to this poster, by subtraction, it seems like a drum and bass group at the moment. Well, when building something, ya gotta start somewhere - but overreaching?