Lynyrd Skynyrd: Live at Knebworth '76 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

Lynyrd Skynyrd: Live at Knebworth '76 Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 29, 2021

Street Survivors: The True Story of the Lynyrd Skynyrd Plane Crash purported to offer putative “facts” about the sad end to several members of this band, as evidenced by the title data after the colon, though as my Street Survivors: The True Story of the Lynyrd Skynyrd Plane Crash Blu-ray review mentioned, the film seemed willfully designed to offer a hagiography for Artimus Pyle. For Skynyrd fans who want the real real story of one of the band’s most notable (sorry) concert performances, the good folks at Eagle Rock Entertainment are offering this 1976 performance, which was previously available only in an edited (and interrupted) form in Lynyrd Skynyrd: Freebird the Movie / Tribute Tour (note that the link points to a DVD). In even better news, this release also includes the kind of documentary about the band that I suggested in the above linked review might have served everyone better than the revisionist “history” that was presented in Street Survivors.

There's an undeniably bittersweet quality to watching this concert now with the benefit (?) of hindsight, since it's hard not to think of how little time was left for some of the band at this point. That said, this is a great, rockin' concert that shows the troupe off to fantastic advantage. Ronnie sounds nicely growly and forceful, and the rhythm section really cooks throughout the performance.

Lynyrd Skinner: Live at Knebworth features the following songs:

1. Workin' for MCA


2. Ain't the One


3. Saturday Night Special


4. Searching


5. Whiskey Rock-a-Roller


6. Travelin' Man


7. Gimme Three Steps


8. Call Me the Breeze


9. For Texas


10. Sweet Home Alabama


11. Free Bird

Lynyrd Skynyrd: Live at Knebworth '76 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Lynyrd Skynyrd: Love at Knebworth is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Eagle Rock Entertainment and Universal Music Group with an AVC encoded 1080i transfer in 1.33:1. Just a cursory glance at the screenshots accompanying this review will reveal this is not a paradigm of high definition sharpness, clarity and/or detail levels, and in fact this may more frequently resemble some of the so-called "SD Blu-rays" that Eagle Rock has put out in a number of releases tied to archival material from the Rolling Stones. The palette is still reasonably suffused, and the red backdrop in particular looks pretty vivid, but blacks tend to be crushed at times, and even close-ups don't provide a wealth of fine detail. The interlaced presentation can also lead to brief anomalies like combing artifacts.

Lynyrd Skynyrd: Live at Knebworth '76 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Luckily, things are considerably better in the audio department, with fine sounding DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 tracks (as tends to be the case with a lot of Eagle Rock's releases, the disc has been authored to default to the stereo track). The surround track nicely opens up the proceedings, and definitely provides added "oomph" to the low end, but it unfortunately tends to emphasize the frequent screaming from female members of the audience. Both tracks offer excellent fidelity and surprisingly good prioritization given the live recording technologies prevalent in the day.

Lynyrd Skynyrd: Live at Knebworth '76 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• If I Leave Here Tomorrow (1080p; 1:37:07) is a really excellent documentary by Showtime and Country Music Television that offers biographical background and a lot of archival footage, and may well be worth the price of admission alone, as if the concert weren't enough.

Additionally a Bonus CD of the concert is included.

Lynyrd Skynyrd: Live at Knebworth '76 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

This August 21, 1976 concert finds Lynyrd Skynyrd in more than fine form, with a bristling set that is so-called "Southern Rock" at its best. Speaking of Southern Rock, it should probably be mentioned that despite this concert hailing from Merrie Old England, there are Confederate flags flying at times in the audience, for anyone who may be "triggered" by such a sight. That potential issue aside, while this release offers some pretty ragged looking video, the audio is great, and the accompanying documentary absolutely first rate. Recommended.