They're loud, raunchy and rowdy the three things diehard ZZ Top fans have come to love and expect from this perennial southern rock band from Texas and Saturday night was no exception. From the first chords of "Got Me Under Pressure" until the last note of "Tush," a near sell-out crowd at the Meadowbrook U.S.
Cellular Pavilion rarely sat and never stopped dancing as "that little ol' band from Texas" literally rocked the house at the season's final show. "We're a long, long way from home," said guitarist Billy Gibbons in his slow, deep drawl that sounds a lot like gravel on a washboard. "We left L.
A. drove around Texas 'cause I got ex-old ladies there, and all the way to New Hampshire." "What they got up there in New Hampshire?
And I said, 'Anything you want,'" Gibbons continued his tale. "They got trees, water, Mexican food and pretty girls." "And they got the Dollar Store," he said telling the eager crowd about how [bassist] Dusty [Hill] pulls out a $2 bill.
"And we found some cheap sunglasses," said Gibbons opening the way to one of the bands more well-known tunes "Cheap Sunglasses." With a light screen behind them, two stacks of television monitors on each side, and plenty of smoke machines to reflect the light show, Gibbons and bass guitarist Dusty Hill played side by side dressed identically in black suits, gray hats and [cheap] black sunglasses while drummer Frank Beard held it all together. The band, formed in 1969, is one of the longest playing acts still made up of the original members and is known for being true to the blues while having a little fun with their often debauched lyrics.
Although cult favorites for years, they hit the big time in the 1980s with Eliminator whose single "Sharp Dressed Man" turned the trio into MTV video icons. Other mega-hits from Eliminator include "Got Me Under Pressure," "Gimme All Your Lovin'" and "Legs" all of which kept the crowd dancing in the aisles Saturday night. Gibbons and Hill also kept the crowd entertained with their ever-changing variety of guitars, including Gibbons gold guitar upon which he played some mean slide licks including an old blues tune from Fandango called "Blue Jean Blues" and the white fur-clad pair they used to play "Legs.
" Leaving the stage after about 45 minutes, they returned for a 20-minute encore beginning with "Tube Steak Boogie," and ending with super-charged version of "Tush." "I've seen ZZ Top about 12 times from Lake Champlain to anywhere in Connecticut," said Steve Faski, a postal worker from Connecticut who sported a chest-length beard of which even lead guitarist Gibbons would have been proud. "I spray it with a little conditioner and it's all set," said Faski who plays Santa Claus quite regularly and likes "Sharp Dressed Man" the best.
"I just didn't know what to wear to a ZZ Top concert," said Wendy Antonucci of Rowley, Mass., who had taken a witch's hat and turned the gray hair into a long beard and attached it with a covered elastic. Faski, Antonucci, and the other 4,000 or so ZZ Tops fans couldn't have been disappointed as the "Tres Hombres" from Texas delivered another electric performance just like they have for the last 35 years.
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