June 17, 1975 — the first time Lynyrd Skynyrd ever played SPAC. The Nuthin’ Fancy Tour. Original lineup, Ronnie Van Zant out front in his bare feet and floppy hat, Allen Collins and Gary Rossington on guitars, Billy Powell on piano. Two years and four months before the plane went down in a Mississippi swamp. They opened with ‘Workin’ for MCA,’ tore through ‘Saturday Night Special,’ built ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ into a Saratoga singalong, and closed with ‘Free Bird’ — fifteen minutes, no cuts, Collins’s guitar still climbing as the pavilion lights came up.
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