KNEBWORTH, UK - Here in this civil parish village in North Hertfordshire (30 miles north of London) is the home of one of the greatest, if not the greatest, rock concert performances of all-time. On August 21, 1976 opening for The Rolling Stones, Lynyrd Skynyrd put on a show for the ages at the Knebworth Fair in jolly ol' England. We're not just talking about a classic Southern Rock performance, but one of the most memorable, charismatic yet exacting rock concerts of all-time, period. Skynyrd blew everyone off the stage that day - yes, including the headliners - The Rolling Stones. In 1976 Skynyrd had been invigorated by the addition of a new third guitarist in Steve Gaines, who pushed fellow six-stringers Allen Collins and Gary Rossington to up their game. The three-man guitar mastery throughout the show was an incredible display of pure talent. Collins' frenetic soloing, Rossington's slide and rhythm work, with Gaines fitting perfectly in the middle provided a fiery, fully engrossing performance. It's also notable that Ronnie didn't provide any stage banter between songs. The group had just a little over an hour to play, so they made every second count. Ronnie was dressed all in black, performing with bare feet and in his famous western outlaw hat. No one has ever commanded a stage, while standing mainly in the same spot throughout the show, more than Van Zant. Ronnie's rough and ready vocals, ubiquitous whistles and encouragement to his fellow band members had the audience enthralled. Meanwhile, bassist Leon Wilkeson and drummer Artimus Pyle propelled Skynyrd with a solid undercurrent while pianist Billy Powell brought the boogie woogie to the show with his excellent keyboard and piano playing. The band was backed by the Honkettes, a trio of feisty backing vocalists: JoJo Billingsley, Cassie Gaines and Leslie Hawkins. The band, Collins especially, was chomping at the bit to start the show, barely containing his enthusisam to hit the first note. You knew something special was about to take place. As soon as the group launched into the opener, "Workin' for MCA", they made the festival crowd at Knebworth estimated at 200,000 (stage announcements on the day estimated the crowd to be at 300,000) their own intimate honky tonk bar. The playlist was tight due to the time restraints imposed by The Stones, but Skynyrd was able to work in originals "I Ain't the One", Saturday Night Special", "Searching", "Whiskey Rock-A-Roller", "Travelin' Man", "Gimme Three Steps" along with a couple of covers, adding new energy to J.J. Cale's "Call Me the Breeze" and Jimmie Rodgers' "T for Texas." Then the band launched into a double grand finale closing with "Sweet Home Alabama" and "Free Bird". Skynyrd turned in one of the most memorable and classic Rock-N-Roll performances of all-time. The concert was noteworthy on another front. The Stones' only had one rule for opening bands at Knebworth: Do not go down the "tongue" ramp, a Rolling Stones stage feature that extended down into the crowd. Skynyrd ignored the rule during their set as Van Zant, Rossington and Collins proceeded down the ramp to perform closer to the crowd. The Stones were not pleased with Skynyrd and never offfered the band another opening gig, but Mick and crew had bigger things to worry about that night, like how to follow a performance that tore down the house. Turns out The Stones had no answer, like all bands who took the stage after Skynyrd. Fourteen months after Knebworth came the band's tragic plane crash. The question of what could have been, especially after this performance still lingers. Knebworth was a revelation, chronicling a time when nobody could top this band, not even The Rolling Stones. In Week 11 of the 2023 BDFL season, the league offered up a couple of match-ups overseas for the European fans. In the headliner, the Freebirds followed Skynyrd's lead and rolled over the Armadillos (38-31) at the Knebworth House Stadium in front of 200,000. In the other European game, Da Blitz bombed the Dogs (32-24) in Frankfort for a homecoming of sorts for the party.