Front Left - Right: Stevie Hawkins & Johnny Van Zant
Back Row Left to Right: Michael Cartellone, Ricky Medlocke, Damon Johnson, Peter Keys, Keith Christopher, Sparky Mark Matejka

It was another Skynyrd Nation night on July 23, 2023, at Ameris Bank Amphitheater in Alpharetta, Georgia, where I visited for the evening to see and hear my buddies from the Lynyrd Skynyrd band on their "Sharp Dressed Simple Man Tour" with ZZ Top. It is always good to see and hear "Sparky" Mark Matejka, an old friend and guitarist for Lynyrd Skynyrd. Mark has now been with Skynyrd for 17 years, and we have been friends for the same number of years. The first time I played drums with Mark was in 2006 for a full week of daily shows at Ameristar Casino in Kansas City, Missouri. That was shortly after he had left the Charlie Daniels Band to join Lynyrd Skynyrd. Since then, we have still performed together on various occasions.

It was also nice to see and hear ZZ Top's set since I hadn’t been to one of their concerts since 1975. Both bands revved up an audience of all ages at the sold-out amphitheater. Skynyrd is celebrating 50 years of the band’s existence as they continue to sell out arenas. Anyway, the Skynyrd set was rowdy, raw, and relentlessly loud! ZZ Top was well on par with their performance; their live mix was excellent, and as usual, the trio was visually entertaining.

It is good to know that the music of these two bands is kept alive and well, transcending from one generation to the next.