Molly Hatchet Bring A Little Southern Rock

To Smart Financial Centre

Smart Financial Centre

October 5, 2017

October 5th at Smart Financial Centre proved to be the return of true Southern Rock to Houston as Molly Hatchet and Lynyrd Skynyrd returned to the Houston area for a power-packed concert.

Molly Hatchet took to the stage opening the show with a fury and a point to be proven. This was that they were determined to keep Southern Rock and the Molly Hatchet sound alive after the recent demise of Molly Hatchet founder Dave Hlubek who founded the band back in 1971. Yeah, the band made it clear that they were going to keep going as a tribute to the late Dave Hlubek. Their show was incendiary, although a little short of what we would have liked to hear. Such are the problems of being the opening act on a bill.

The band kicked off the show with "Whiskey Man," one of their hit songs off the 1979 album, "Flirtitin' With Disaster." Lead singer Phil McCormack sounded better than ever. Nothing's slowed this man's vocals down one bit. Drummer Shawn Beamer made his presence known right off the start with a cacophony of thunderous drums throughout the performance.

Next up was "Devil's Canyon," the title song from their 1996 album release, "Devil's Canyon." Guitarist Bobby Ingram took hold of this song and propelled it into a new dimension, much to the delight of the audience. There's just something about Southern Rock fans, they really get excited when the guitar takes off.

Keepin' with the theme, they launched into their 1980 hit, "Beatin' The Odds". Wow, nothing was stopping these guys. With a short set ahead of them they knew they had to hit all the high notes.

Now it was back to the "Flirtin' With Disaster album and the song "Jukin' City." Without a doubt, this band could have just performed the "Flirtin' With Disaster" album and the audience would have been satisfied. "Flirtin" was without a doubt one of the band's best album's, If not the most popular album. Tim Lindsey's bass really thundered throughout this song, along with the proific keyboard work of John Galvin.

As a salute to one of their fallen Southern Rock comrades, Gregg Allman, they then performed the Allman Brothers classic "Dreams, I'll Never See." This song has always been a favorite of theirs, as well as the audience, which met it with a thunderous applause. They really shined on this one.

Finishing up their set, they capped the evening with what is possibly their most requested song of all time, "Flirtin' With Disaster." Face it, this just wouldn't have been a good show without it. Every Molly Hatchet fan has to hear this song during one of their concerts. It was another song that they just nailed. It sounded fantastic.

As we said, the set was a bit short, but it was mighty. It'll be great to see them back again.... hopefullly in a headlining position so that we can hear a lot more of their great songs. 6 songs were just not enough.

Setlist:

1. Whiskey Man

2. Devil's Canyon

3. Beatin' the Odds

4. Jukin' City

5. Dreams

6. Flirtin' With Disaster