I have to say I wasn`t sure if I was reading the blurb correctly when I discovered that guitarist and primary vocalist of ZZ Top, Billy Gibbons was due to play three nights in the UK as part of his twenty-one date `The Big One, Part 1` European trek and one at the under two thousand capacity O2 Institute in Birmingham. The line-up was originally a trio, headed by Gibbons on guitar and vocals, drummer Matt Sorum from Guns N’ Roses, The Cult and Velvet Revolver along with lefthanded guitarist, Austin Hanks. Matt Sorum couldn`t play the dates due to family commitments so John Douglas who has played in Aerosmith and ZZ Top stepped in.
This power trio kicked off with the blistering `Got Me Under Pressure` from ZZ Top`s 1983 `Eliminator` album which finally gained the band overdue recognition here in the UK. What follows was almost an understated blues masterclass which included `More-More-More` from Billy`s last solo album `Hardware`, a cover of `Rollin’ and Tumblin’ which was on his `The Big Bad Blues` album and `Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers` which was on ZZ`s `Tres Hombres` release back in 1973 which is almost timeless and a new song called `The Devil Is Red`.
`Gimme All Your Lovin’` sends this packed audience into raptures before a couple of solo tracks in `Treat Her Right` a cover from `Perfectamundo` and the wonderful `Missin’ Yo’ Kissin’` are shared. But for me it was the ZZ Top classic `Blue Jean Blues` which was sandwiched in between and is nearly half a century old that really pulled at the heartstrings as I reminisced on Dusty Hill`s passing.
Billy was in a band called Moving Sidewalks prior to ZZ who supported The Jimi Hendrix Experience and having less than the contracted forty minutes covered `Foxy Lady` to Jimi`s astonishment and tonight he shares it once again.
The home stretch consists of `West Coast Junkie` from the last solo album, before heading back in time and closing out with a few ZZ Top numbers in `Sharp Dressed Man`, `Thunderbird`, `Brown Sugar` and leaving us with the stunning `La Grange` from the fifty-year-old `Tres Hombres` album.
An eighty-minute set and no encore was fine with me as the few times I saw ZZ Top it was similar and if i`m honest it was enough to take in all at once. Reflecting back today I can really appreciate the ease at which this Texan troubadour made it all seem so simple.
I have to say Austin Hanks and John Douglas were the perfect partners in crime and if you are heading to the Bournemouth gig next Tuesday you`re in for a real treat.
