Catching up with ZZ Top and Lynyrd Skynyrd Double trouble

The paths of classic rock acts ZZ Top and Lynyrd Skynyrd once again cross with the “Rebels & Bandoleros Tour,” which comes through Youngstown on Sunday at the Covelli Centre.
With the concert industry struggling these days, the package tours make the most sense. More bang for your buck. And these Rock and Roll Hall of Fame bands don’t disappoint. The two classic rock giants, which first joined forces in 1974 when ZZ Top invited then- up-and-coming Lynyrd Skynyrd to be a part of the “Outlaw Tour,” promise its Northeast Ohio audience an evening filled with hits ranging from the former’s “Tush,” “LaGrange,” “Sharp Dressed Man,” “Legs,” and “Gimme All Your Lovin’” to the latter’s “Sweet Home Alabama,” “Gimme Three Steps,” “What’s Your Name” and “Free Bird.”
The Vindicator talked to ZZ Top singer-guitarist Billy Gibbons and Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist Rickey Medlocke (who briefly was in the band in the early ’70s before forming Blackfoot and rejoining Skynyrd in 1996) about the tour, each other’s music and cornhole.