![]() Showbiz & Media Figures We’ve Lost In 2021 – Photo Gallery 20 on the Hot 100 and also became a radio mainstay. ZZ Top’s momentum continued to build with 1975’s Fandango!, which also made the Top 10, fueled by the single “Tush,” which peaked at No. The track remains a staple on rock radio. Their fortunes changed in 1973 with Tres Hombres, which spawned “La Grange,” an ode to that shack “out on the range.” The song was a minor pop hit, just missing the Billboard Top 40, but expanded the group’s fan base and drove the album into the Top 10 of the Billboard 200 album chart. The 1972 follow-up Rio Grande Mud was their first to hit the charts and expanded their popularity. The boogie-blues trio released ZZ Top’s First Album as they built a name playing Texas clubs. The group was featured in the 2019 documentary ZZ Top: That Little Ol’ Band from Texas, which scored a Grammy nom for Best Music Film. Seven of their LPs, including two hits compilations, are platinum or multiplatinum, with four others going gold. ZZ Top has released 15 studio albums during its career - including half live/half-studio album Fandango! - selling more than 25 million records in the U.S. They went on to become one of rock’s best-loved trios - and bands - with their massive success driven by signature videos that then-nascent MTV played in heavy rotation. Long considered the rock band with the longest-tenured original lineup, ZZ Top was formed in 1969 in Houston, with bassist-singer-songwriter Hill playing alongside guitarist Gibbons and drummer Beard. and La Grange, it felt like the ’70s and ’80s were alive and well.Dusty Hill Remembered: MTV's Martha Quinn, Flea, Texas Governor & More Pay Tribute To ZZ Top Bassist Dusty Hill, left, and Billy Gibbons on stage with ZZ Top at the Beacon in New York City in 2012 Everett Collection There’s a reason they were the headliners, and they proved it during a strong opening section that included Gimme All Your Lovin', I Thank You and Got Me Under Pressure.īy the time the group closed out the night with Legs, Tube Snake Boogie. ZZ Top is in the enviable position of having dozens of legitimate hits, which makes comparisons between them and Cheap Trick unfair. They were expected to be highlights, and offered the only takeaways of the night for the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers. The Flame, I Want You To Want Me, Dream Police, and Surrender were played well, but they are recognizable hits with decades of FM radio spins to their credit. The sound improved by the time the Rockford, Illinois quintet arrived at the meat of their catalogue, which eventually brought things up to a passable level. The abundance of empty seats at the outset didn’t help matters - start time was 7 p.m., when most attendees were getting primed in the lobby - and the band’s energy was largely lacking. Volume isn’t a problem if the acoustics play along, but the set was muddy and listless. The quality never dipped, where his playing was concerned, even when he and Francis broke out the faux-fur guitars.Ĭheap Trick, playing only its fourth show ever in Victoria, and first since a 2016 appearance at the University of Victoria’s Farquhar Auditorium, was flat-out deafening in the opening slot. Gibbons is the creator of his own brand of boogie bouillabaisse, a recipe that is imbued with charcoal and champagne. His guitar playing was typically greasy, carrying the show with a series of languid leads. Gibbons rose to the challenge, and was in fine voice throughout. His presence seemed to spark singer-guitarist Billy Gibbons, who had to work much harder Friday than he did six years ago (Hill sang lead on several songs and offered timely back-up vocals throughout ZZ Top’s career). ![]() He was missed, but the Texas trio sounded strong and cohesive on this night. ![]() ZZ Top’s Canadian tour with openers Cheap Trick was originally set to begin in Victoria on April 29, 2020, which would have featured Hill. The band’s first line-up change in more than 50 years came and went without a hitch. His replacement, the band’s former guitar tech, Elwood Francis, fell perfectly into place - beard and all - which came as a welcome relief. The band was without one of its core members, bassist Dusty Hill, who died in July at 72. The ’80s hitmakers returned to Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre, once again on a Friday, and cranked the volume up - way up - for 80 minutes of Texas boogie. When rockers ZZ Top last played Victoria, in 2016, it was on a Friday night - which is their time to shine, it would be safe to assume.
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