38 Special Rocks Frontier Field

Southern hard rockers 38 Special brought their show to Frontier Field in Rochester, New York last Sunday night. Playing a set full of hits from their catalog, plus some covers to round out the evening- the band brought a show that was sure to please.

Kicking off the evening was the very fitting "Rockin' Into The Night", and Don Barnes' voice was instantly recognizable. 38 Special is a band that I am very well versed in, I own all of their records up until 1991's Bone Against Steel. Although I wish circumstances would allow an all original lineup to be performing the tunes (as I do with basically every band I see), the band is doing great as it is now. Barnes' voice is pretty solid with just a hint of 'rough around the edge' which honestly adds to the southern rock sound more than anything. The band's current lineup also features Danny Chauncey (guitar), Bobby Capps (keyboards), Gary Moffatt (percussion) and Barry Dunaway (bass) who mostly all contribute backing vocals as well. 

The band definitely played what is basically their greatest hits record; "Back Where You Belong", "Wild Eyed Southern Boys", "Second Chance" (a personal favorite of mine) and numerous others. They covered Chicago's hit "Feelin' Stronger Every Day" as well as The Easybeats' "Good Times". A very welcomed addition to the set was a track from Barnes' solo endeavor titled "Ride The Storm" which I hadn't heard prior to this show, however, I did really enjoy the tune. It fit very well along the lines of 38 Special and was pleasantly a little more hard rocking than I expected. Chauncey displayed his guitar skills through the multiple in-song solos throughout the set, while drummer 'Madman' Moffatt earned his nickname by performing a seriously killer drum solo. It started off a little slow, but in reality, he was just holding back his true abilities which he later let loose. Speaking of loose, it wouldn't be a 38 Special show if they didn't perform "Hold On Loosely" which judging by the amount of singing and dancing from the crowd was a favorite among many. Closing out the night was a rocking cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Travelin' Band'.