Lynyrd Skynyrd – Mystic Lake Amphitheater – Shakopee MN – August 16th 2026

By Kyle Hansen 1 day ago

Live Nation and Mystic Lake Amphitheater with special guests Foreigner

Review and photos by Kyle Hansen

The new Mystic Lake Amphitheater got another serious test Sunday night as Foreigner brought its Double Trouble Double Vision tour to town, sharing the bill with Lynyrd Skynyrd and special guest Six Gun Sally.

Foreigner took the stage at 7:20 p.m. and played for 90 minutes before handing the stage to Lynyrd Skynyrd.

This was not a concert built around obscure album tracks. It was a greatest-hits assault, and for a band with Foreigner’s catalog, that was exactly the right approach.

The opening combination of “Double Vision,” “Head Games” and “Cold as Ice” immediately put three of the band’s biggest songs on the table. Rather than saving everything for the end, Foreigner kept the familiar material coming.

“Waiting for a Girl Like You” brought a dramatic change of pace, while “Say You Will,” “Dirty White Boy” and “Break It Up” kept the set firmly rooted in the band’s late-’70s and ’80s catalog.

The most effective part of the show may have been the middle stretch. “Feels Like the First Time” brought the crowd back to Foreigner’s beginnings, followed by the band’s unexpected cover of Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water.”

Then came “Urgent,” complete with a keyboard and drum solo, before the band launched into “Juke Box Hero.”

Foreigner followed “Juke Box Hero” with “Long, Long Way From Home,” then delivered what was arguably the night’s emotional high point: “I Want to Know What Love Is.”

The song featured Eastview’s Chamber Choir, adding a much larger vocal presence to one of Foreigner’s most recognizable ballads.

And there was only one appropriate way to finish: “Hot Blooded.”

The crowd got the full rock-and-roll payoff, ending Foreigner’s 15-song set on the band’s most explosive anthem.

  1. Double Vision
  2. Head Games
  3. Cold as Ice
  4. Waiting for a Girl Like You
  5. Say You Will
  6. Dirty White Boy
  7. Break It Up
  8. Feels Like the First Time
  9. Bridge Over Troubled Water
  10. Urgent
  11. Keyboard and Drum Solo
  12. Juke Box Hero
  13. Long, Long Way From Home
  14. I Want to Know What Love Is — with Eastview’s Chamber Choir
  15. Hot Blooded

That made the entire evening feel like a two-band celebration of classic-rock radio, rather than a conventional opener-headliner bill.

Verdict: ★★★★½

Lynyrd Skynyrd brought the Southern-rock spirit to Mystic Lake Amphitheater Sunday night, August 16, delivering a 100-minute set that leaned heavily on the band’s classic catalog and ended exactly where everyone knew it had to: “Free Bird.”

Taking the stage at 9:20 p.m., Skynyrd followed Six Gun Sally and Foreigner on the Double Trouble Double Vision Tour.

The opening was a statement of intent. After the taped introduction of Van Halen’s “Panama,” the band launched into “Workin’ for MCA,” followed by “What’s Your Name” and “That Smell.” Three songs in, the crowd was already deep into Skynyrd’s Southern-rock history.

The set then moved through “Saturday Night Special,” “I Know a Little,” “On the Hunt” and “Don’t Ask Me No Questions.” One of the pleasures of the show was that the band didn’t restrict itself entirely to the obvious hits. “I Know a Little” and “Gimme Back My Bullets” gave longtime fans something beyond the standard greatest-hits package.

The night’s most affecting moment came with “Tuesday’s Gone,” which Setlist.fm notes was dedicated to longtime guitarist Gary Rossington, who died in 2023. The song carried an added weight in the setting of a band whose history is inseparable from the members it has lost.

That reflective moment was followed by “Simple Man,” one of Skynyrd’s most enduring songs and one of the biggest crowd singalongs of the night.

From there, the band accelerated toward the finish with “Gimme Three Steps” and J.J. Cale’s “Call Me the Breeze.”

Then came “Sweet Home Alabama.”

It was the moment when Mystic Lake became one giant Southern-rock chorus. The song remains so familiar that the audience almost becomes another instrument, supplying the words while the band supplies the muscle.

And then: “Free Bird”

There was never really any doubt about the closer.

“Free Bird” arrived as the encore, turning the final minutes into the night’s biggest guitar showcase. After nearly 100 minutes of Skynyrd classics, the song provided exactly the kind of expansive finale a concert like this demands. Setlist.fm records the show ending at 11 p.m.

The 2026 tour has continued to use “Free Bird” and “Sweet Home Alabama” as its anchors, while rotating some of the deeper material. The Mystic Lake performance followed that basic philosophy but included the welcome additions of “I Know a Little” and “Gimme Back My Bullets.”

  1. Panama — Van Halen, played from tape
  2. Workin’ for MCA
  3. What’s Your Name
  4. That Smell
  5. Saturday Night Special
  6. I Know a Little
  7. On the Hunt
  8. Don’t Ask Me No Questions
  9. I Need You
  10. Gimme Back My Bullets
  11. The Ballad of Curtis Loew
  12. Tuesday’s Gone — dedicated to Gary Rossington
  13. Simple Man
  14. Gimme Three Steps
  15. Call Me the Breeze — J.J. Cale cover
  16. Sweet Home Alabama
  17. Free Bird — encore

Verdict: ★★★★½

Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Mystic Lake performance wasn’t about reinventing the band’s music. It was about keeping these songs alive in a big outdoor setting, and on that score, the band succeeded.

The set had enough deeper selections to reward serious fans, while the essential songs — “Simple Man,” “Sweet Home Alabama” and “Free Bird” — delivered the massive communal moments that the audience came for.

The dedication of “Tuesday’s Gone” gave the night some genuine emotional depth, while “Free Bird” provided the spectacular ending.

For 100 minutes, Mystic Lake belonged to Southern rock. And when the final notes of “Free Bird” disappeared into the Minnesota night, the band’s greatest song proved once again why it remains one of rock’s most enduring concert finales.