Quick! Name a band with all original members (all of whom stayed—none of that reunion tour business), instantly recognizable songs and that is still touring—after half a century.
Tough one, huh?
Well, one answer is ZZ Top. The Texas rockers are heading to Red Butte and they’re, by all accounts, as good as they’ve ever been. And while it’s easy to dismiss them as gimmicky—hot girls, spinning guitars, sunglasses. fancy cars and oh, my God, those beards—it’s a lot harder to deny that the guitar licks and bass lines don’t still resonate.
They’ve created this hybrid mix of Texas blues (they’re from Houston, of course), rock n’ roll and country that is uniquely theirs and manages to get everyone’s toes tapping. I’ve long said that if I were a professional baseball player (a stretch, admittedly), my walk-up song would be ZZ Top’s “Tush.” It’s not a masterpiece—sure. But everyone knows it. Everyone loves it. That doesn’t make just a good walk-up song, that makes a good song, period.
In fact, when the Red Butte line-up for this summer was announced, this was the show I was most-excited for. These guys are legends, right? Who wouldn’t want to see them? But all media coverage of their Tonnage Tour suggests that the’ve also still got legs (see what I did there?) with rave reviews across the globe. The boys still got it.
ZZ Top plays Red Butte on August 31. Doors at 6:30, music starts at 7:30. This show is sold-out, but as all Texans know, where there’s a will, there’s a way.
