Rocking the LEA!

On Sunday October 23, 2011, Cadillac Black, Lynryd Skynyrd, and ZZ Top rocked the Laredo Energy Arena with their Rebels and Bandolero's Tour. I won't lie; I wasn't expecting much from a bunch of old men performing in a predominately Latino influenced culture, but I have to say, these guys can rock out!

The concert started with a relatively unknown band to the Laredo community, Cadillac Black, hailing from Nashville, Tennessee. They started their rock/country performance at a steady pace, but they slowly got the crowed ecstatic with their witty remarks about Laredo. When they first drove into Laredo, they looked around, and that there wasn't "shit" to do, which is completely true and this helped the audience embrace Cadillac Black. They even dedicated their song, "Tennessee Mojo" to all the "badass pickup truck drivers" that they saw in Laredo and helped attract the audience to their music. By the end of the night, a majority of the audience was rocking out to Cadillac Black!

After Cadillac Black, the next performers and first time gracing Laredo with their presence, Lynyrd Skynyrd! Do I really even have to say anything about Lynyrd Skynyrd! They put on a great show, playing classics like "What's Your Name", followed by "Simple Man", which Lynyrd Skynyrd dedicated to the troops that are fighting for our country! Talk about being proud to be an American. Then they moved onto "Sweet Home Alabama"! They had the whole crowd going crazy and soon the aroma in the air was slightly altered. I'm guessing there were a couple of hippies trying to relive the 60's in the arena! Then they suddenly left the stage and the lights went off. Wait a second! We want "FreeBird"; and in a matter of seconds the whole crowd starting chanting "FreeBird", "FreeBird", "FreeBird"! They didn't disappoint. They came back and executed "FreeBird" perfectly! Great Performance!

 Once Lynyrd Skynyrd finished their awesome performance, the men with the great beards graced the 956 with yet another performance; yeah I'm talking about ZZ Top! They started with an amazing entrance and hits like "Cheap Sunglasses" and "Gimmie All Your Lovin." Then they made one lucky audience member extremely happy; all three members autographed ZZ Top's first album that an audience member had! How awesome is that! Once again, there was a slight alteration in the air during their performance. I'm guessing some people just weren't satisfied with alcohol, but hey they just wanted to have a good time too, it didn't affect the ambience that ZZ Top was impacting on the crowd. They went on to play classics like "Sharp Dressed Man", "Legs", "Tush" and "La Grange"; Great performance just like their great beards.

 By the end of the night the whole crowd was up on their feet jumping around, beer in hand, waving anything they could get their hands on from the pure excitement that Black Cadillac, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and ZZ Top had instilled onto the crowd. Whoever missed out on this concert missed possibly one of the most electrifying rock concerts in Laredo. If Lynryd Skynyrd and ZZ Top come back to Laredo, and I hope they do, I will most definitely be the first in line to purchase front row tickets!

(Jonathan Brosig may be reach at jonathan.brosig@dusty.tamiu)