Whenever my family had a long road trip, I mentally prepared myself to listen to my dad’s old-guy music. After a while, I got accustomed to the rock genre, listening to songs by Aerosmith, AC/DC, Ozzy Osborne and many more. One band that especially stuck with me was ZZ Top, because my dad blasted songs like “Sharped Dressed Man” and “Brown Sugar.” When I saw that ZZ Top was coming back to Nashville, I jumped at the opportunity to hear that classic rock sound through amps instead of a radio.
The opening act for this leg of “The Elevation Tour” was McKinley James, a 22-year-old musician. With a bassist and drummer accompanying him, James brought soul, blues and modern sounds to create a unique mixture of the old and the new. James performed original songs like “Movin’” and “Call Me Lonesome” from his 2024 album, “Working Class Blues.” His original music sticks to the blues of the ‘60s, fitting the sound of ZZ Top with more songs like “Stay With You” and “Always On My Mind,” all of which kept that unique mixture of the then and now.
ZZ Top was formed in Houston in 1969 by original members Billy Gibbons, Frank Beard and Dusty Hill. With a blues style mixed into a heavy bass rhythm, ZZ Top constructed a cultural identity as a band filled with humorous lyrics and matching appearances of long beards and sunglasses. When bass-player Hill passed away in 2021, Elwood Francis replaced him. “The Elevation Tour” now consists of band members Gibbons, Beard and Francis playing together, never missing a beat through their sixteen-song setlist.
Not surprisingly, the audience was more on the older side, yet when ZZ Top walked on stage, it seemed many people turned back into the teenagers they were when this music first debuted. As expected, Gibbons and Francis came out with sunglasses and matching jackets, with sparkly coordination that I found quite funny. As soon as the first strum of guitar flowed, the drums started to rumble and the bass started to shake the floor; it was highly evident that ZZ Top has not missed a beat since 1969.
The night started with “Got Me Under Pressure” from their eighth studio album “Eliminator” from 1983. As I watched Gibbons play, it was mesmerizing to see — it looked as if the guitar was another part of his body since he was playing with such fluidity. Throughout the set, Gibbons and Francis coordinated their movements and messed around a bit while playing, showing them as regular guys just playing some hit songs.
As the night continued, Gibbons showed his humor with some stories about Chattanooga, Tennessee, and even signed one of the band’s record albums for a fan in the front row. The night proceeded with many more classics and many different guitars. At one point, Gibbons and Francis had matching light purple, fluffy guitars. The matching jackets, coordinated movements, sunglasses and fluffy guitars displayed the humor and charm of ZZ Top, which has been a prominent feature of them as a band. After playing “Legs,” the band exited the stage, and the audience began to cheer and clap for an encore. ZZ Top obliged and returned for three more songs: “Brown Sugar,” “Tube Snake Boogie” and “La Grange.”
I felt like my childhood self while at this concert, as if I was sitting in the back seat of my parents’ car watching my dad drum on the steering wheel while listening to ZZ Top. The band has the type of timeless sound that transports you to a simpler time with its humor and strong guitar riffs. We now have armies of fan bases with names like Swifties and so on, but there was nothing that could compare to the loyalty shown by ZZ Top fans who have been listening to these songs for over fifty years. I may have only been listening for a decade, but the lasting impact of ZZ Top cannot be overstated. Here’s to a few more decades and a few more road trips of rock ‘n’ roll and ZZ Top.
