My 6th concert ever was actually free.

My Mom had a friend that she worked with that was very good at winning concert tickets by calling into radio stations.

Well, she won two tickets to see Lynyrd Skynyrd/Deep Purple/Ted Nugent, but could not use them.

So, she gave them to my Mom to give to me and a friend so that we could go.

Wow what a surprise and present.

We traveled on a bus with other ticket winners to the show.

I remember playing these guys’ CDs on the way their on my CD walkman.

We got parked and got off the bus right when Ted Nugent was starting.

Even though we weren’t inside the venue yet (we had the lawn section in the back but still a good view) we could hear Ted, but it did not take us long to walk into the venue and get situated.

We were right on the edge of the lawn, so we were as close as we could be without having actual seats.

Ted was great as always.

His band was him on Lead Vocals and Guitar, Marco Mendoza on Bass and occasional Lead Vocals, and at the time, a newcomer to me on drums, Tommy Clufetos. 

He played drums for Ted for a few years, then was in Rob Zombie’s Band, as well as Ozzy Osbourne, Black Sabbath, The Dead Daisies, even Motley Crue for a couple of shows when Tommy Lee could not play.  Quite the resume and phenomenal talent.

Anyway, Ted is not for everyone.  He is very outspoken and passionate about what he’s passionate about.

But musically, he’s always been awesome, in my opinion.

This day was no different.  He was promoting a live album, Full Bluntal Nugity, at the time.  Phenomenal live album.

I’ve seen Ted 3 times (once before this in 2000, this time, and once in 2023).  He always delivers.

Next up was Deep Purple.  WOW!!!!!!

For me, they stole the show.

The band was all of their famous MK2 lineup, except for the guitarist (Ritchie Blackmore left in late 1993, and Steve Morse came in the following year and stayed there until 2023.)

Keyboardist/Organist Jon Lord (R.I.P., he died in 2012) was still in the band at this point (he left in 2002 because he didn’t want to be on the road so much), so I got lucky and saw him.  PHENOMENAL talent.

Drummer Ian Paice, to me, is one of the best drummers of all time.  He’s the one member of Deep Purple that has ALWAYS been there.

Bassist Roger Glover has always been solid and is a great producer/songwriter.

And Singer Ian Gillan is a master.  What can I say?  He’s always been great.  He doesn’t do all the high screams he’s known for as much anymore, but he still sings great.

I’ve seen them a few more times since this, and they always deliver.

They still make great albums too.  Please do yourself a favor and seek out their music, if you haven’t already.

Then Lynyrd Skynyrd closed the show.

In 2023, they really are just a great tribute band (almost all of the classic and original members are dead), but in 2001, I was able to see a few of the classic guys:  Guitarist Gary Rossington (who passed away in 2023), Bassist Leon Wilkeson (who passed away less than a month, July 27, after this concert actually), and pianist Billy Powell (who passed away in 2009).

Sadly, one of their other guitarist at this time, Hughie Thomasson, passed away later in 2007.

Anyway, sorry I’m saying all this sad stuff first.  Back to the happy stuff.

The band was awesome.  Johnnie Van Zant, Ronnie’s brother, sings the songs so well.

Guitarists Rossington, Thomasson, and Rickey Medlocke, are a heck of a guitar trio.

Everyone just played great, and the songs, my gosh.  Such a great catalog of music.

Sadly, I don’t remember all of the songs everyone played (Ted played a lot of his hits and played a lot from the Full Bluntal Nugity album, while Skynyrd one of their newer songs called Workin’, as well as a ton of their hits) but I do have Deep Purple’s set list, which I will list below.

This was a very fun show at a now long gone venue, Polaris Amphitheater.  It was later renamed Germain Amphitheater, and eventually shut down, and is now just gone and an empty field.  Shame because everyone played there.

I hope you enjoyed reading this.

I’m only posting one picture of Deep Purple, and it’s a terrible quality picture, but it’s what it was at the time.  

But trust me, the experience was not terrible.  It was incredible.