Heading in to their 40th year, that little old band from Texas, ZZ Top continues to rock the house with their first live DVD, capturing their performance at the Nokia Theater in Grand Prairie, Texas on November 1, 2007 before an enthusiastic hometown crowd. Although it’s been a couple of decades since the trio of guitarist Billy Gibbons, bassist Dusty Hill, and drummer Frank Beard was at their commercial peak, they still deliver a 17-song hit-filled set, 85 minutes of wicked blues and gritty rock ‘n’ roll that keeps the faithful “beer drinkers and hell raisers” happy.
Gibbons voice has gotten gruffer over the years. That benefits songs like “Jesus Just Left Chicago” and “I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide” but comes at the expense of others because he can’t hit the higher register like he used to. Hill’s vocals are more prevalent in the mix than they are on the recorded versions, such as the concert-opener “Got Me Under Pressure.”
What hasn’t changed is how well the band plays although it is possible they are getting better. The rhythm section of Hill and Beard are a well-oiled machine, allowing Gibbons to lay down some satisfying guitar licks. On “Just Got Paid,” he uses a bottle on the neck to stretch out the notes and makes the guitar sing. Not only are they talented musicians, but great entertainers as well. Their sense of humor is on full display from their silly synchronized dance moves to the fuzzy instruments.
At about the halfway point, the band slows down the tempo for the ballad “Rough Boy” and the smoldering “Blue Jean Blues.” They close out the set with the threesome from Eliminator that helped push the album to be their greatest seller at 10x Platinum and made them MTV stars: “Gimme All Your Lovin’,” “Sharp Dressed Man,” and “Legs.”
They encore with some vintage ZZ Top: “Tube Snake Boogie,” which featured some audience participation, an extended and outstanding “La Grange,” and Hill taking the lead vocal on “Tush.”
The DVD also offers Bonus Features. “Poker Game” is a very interesting discussion about the band’s history over a few hands. They cover opening for Muddy Waters, The Rolling Stones in 1972, their songs, the Eliminator car, and of course, girls. “Dallas Show Day” is over six minutes of behind the scenes and the fans tailgating. “Photo Shoot” is four minutes of the band on location. They are both worth looking at least because you can catch Billy without his shades as he is being interviewed for a local news channel and at the end of the day on the photo shoot. Last but not least is ZZ Top performing Jimi Hendrix's “Foxey Lady” from the concert although why it’s not included in the set makes no sense.
Article comments
1 - Condor
I rekindled my CD collection with some older stuff I used to have on vinyl. ZZ was right up there. Tres Hombres, Fandango, and De Guello. Of those three my personal favorite remains to this day (I bought the LP when it first came out) Tres Hombres. It's still as fresh. After Eliminator they just sounded different to me but, ushered in a whole new era and a whole bunch of new listeners.
Thanks for the article, I'll have to check on it.
P.S. My favorite album art is the Mexican food spread on Fandango. Whew, what a feed that must have been!
2 - El Bicho
Condor, I've only got a greatest hits in the CD library, but after seeing the DVD, that will soon be remedied.
3 - Josh Hathaway
This is another reason why I wish bands would release identical companion albums to the DVDs. For starters, I'm more likely to listen to a live album than watch the DVD. Second, there are only so many good ways to capture a band on stage from a film perspective. Unfortunately the director of this set didn't use one of them.
4 - Connie Phillips
Congrats! This article has been forwarded to the Advance.net websites and Boston.com.