Written by Dave Clements

If you like Classic Rock and or Southern Rock then you really needed to be in The Woodlands Texas sitting or standing amongst those of us who were blessed to be there last night. It was the Double Trouble Double Vision Tour! Yes it was hot and humid. Yes it was a ‘school night’ and sleeping in the next morning was not an option at least not for this reviewer. Having said that I have no real complaints (actually one little one) about what we experienced this late August Thursday night. It was special and appreciated.

First up was Six Gun Sally not to be confused by Six Gun Sal. Six Gun Sally is from Pittsburgh PA which seems to be a little strange for a Southern Rock Band but according to Google there are several Western PA based bands that play Southern Rock. The Six Gun Sal band is from Los Angeles and also play Southern Rock….they weren’t on the tour but guessing they wish they were.

The original Six Gun Sally band was six guys, no woman in the band when initially formed, but there is now a Sally that joined the band a few years later and is the lead vocalist. Her name is Aimee Jane Williams and she is damn good… I know that I was very impressed and if I can say it, very provocatively dressed (check out the HMR Photo Gallery).

Aimee’s locals were solid and the band was tight as they kicked off the evening to a crowd that was still filing in the pavilion while the sun shined from behind the lawn seats. They played nine songs in short order and did what they were supposed to do and warm up the audience. That isn’t easy to do when the temperature is nearly 100 degrees still at 630 pm. I liked their song selections that included some of their original material and three covers, Piece of My Heart, an Erma Franklin tune, Somebody to Love by Great Society (a 65-66 San Francisco based rock band) and Ramblin Man by the unmatched Allman Brothers.

My final note on SGS…. I’d go see them again in a minute, no questions asked!

Next up was the band named Foreigner. The guys on stage were band descendants of the six gentlemen that formed the original Foreigner in the mid 70’s. Those guys were recently inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Their names were Lou Gramm, Mick Jones, Dennis Elliott, Al Greenwood, Ian McDonald, and Ed Gagliardi.

Only one of those guys were on stage this night. Al Greenwood introduced the band in the beginning and then came out and played keyboards at the end of their set.

All six of the aforementioned guys were on stage this night but just in spirit.  Yet the songs they created were on full display as the evening progressed. The guys played thirteen songs as if they owned them and how can you do anything else but sit back and enjoy some great rock & roll tunes played my world class musicians.

In total about an hour and a half’s worth before the two-song encore was done. Classics like Double Vision, Cold As Ice, Waiting For A Girl Like You, Feels Like the First Time, Urgent, Juke Box Hero, I Want To Know What Love Is, and Hot Blooded…among others.

All were well executed nicely just not by the Foreigner forefathers.

My one criticism is that former Foreigner guitarist, now lead singer Luis Maldonado went of way too long in his introduction of the guys during Juke Box Hero. Seemed to me they were killing time, something that does not do much for me. Otherwise, the band on stage did what they were supposed to do, entertain!

And in all fairness the ‘band intro’ was offset in this reviewer’s opinion by the band bringing up a chorus of kids from the Clear Lake School of Rock to sing back up on I Want To Know What Love Is. After the song was over Luis talked about the importance of nurturing music in our children (so true).

The third and last band of the evening was the Lynyrd Skynyrd band originally from Jacksonville, Florida. Similar to Foreigner, the assembled musicians this night, are decedents of those that formed the band back in the mid-60s. Those guys were inducted by Kid Rock into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame two decades ago and so well deserved. And the guys who were up on stage now did a beautiful job waving the Lynyrd Skynyrd flag. I love their catalog of songs as much as I like any these days. It has been developed over many decades and with the brother of original member Ronnie Van Zant, Johnny, at center stage how can things go wrong. He has been with the band since 1987 and I would argue that LS is his band! He just fits for me and certainly seemed to fit for the thousands in attendance at the pavilion. How can you not enjoy hearing songs like Workin’ for MCA, What’s Your Name, That Smell, Gimme Back My Bullets, The Ballad of Curtis Loew, Simple Man, Gimme Three Steps, Call Me the Breeze (a JJ Cale cover) Sweet Home Alabama and an iconic song that will live for generations, Free Bird.

And before closing out this review….I must add that as much as I enjoyed to evening I did so with a heavy heart. The world lost Dolly Parton earlier in the week and in this reviewer’s opinion Dolly was a ‘one of a kind’ that would not be equaled, likely ever. She was a wonderful business woman and an even better entertainer. She had a heart of gold and gave us so much more than she took for herself…and coincidently the next named Atlantic storm to form will be named Dolly…a name picked decades ago. What does that tell you about her impact in this universe.

If you do, thanks for supporting live music.

dwc