The Legends Concert Series at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth hosted that Little Ol Band From Texas, the legendary ZZ Top with opening acts, homeboy Pat Green and new comer Zach Bryan. Benefitting the University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth, the event turned out to be a fantastic night with great Texas Music, some of Fort Worths finest and of course, them beautiful Texas women prancing in their unique Texas attire. God Bless Texas!
Show opener, Zach Bryan, a young country talent out of Oologah, Oklahoma kicked off with a short set of songs that graciously warmed up the Dickies crowd. Zach, who found his fan base on YouTube around 2017 has since released two LP recordings with his debut studio album, DeAnn in 2019 and his second, Elisabeth, in 2020. A rising star in the making, keep your eyes on Zach Bryan in the years to come.
In the middle slot, San Antonio born, Pat Green who started his show with a fan favorite "Me And Billy The Kid" smoothed in with a nice warm welcome. Pure Texan and part comedian, Pat kept the crowd laughing it up with some great one-liners throughout the night between songs, "Its the right time for some school night drinking" as he kicking into "Drinking Days". His set had the crowd singing alone especially with one of his notable hit songs "Three Days". Towards the end of his show, Mr. Green encouraged the well to do Cow Town folks when he said "Fort Worth, this is when you get off your ass?" Without a doubt, Pat finished his set with the floor crowd on their feet and corralled at the stage barricade. A great performance by another hometown Texas boy!
After 50 years plus of being one of Texas best exports, ZZ Top needs no introduction in who they are, what they play or where they represent! The magic happens when the lights shine and the amps crank! In full ZZ Top fashion, they kicked off their show with "Under Pressure" playing twin baby blue gee-tars. The Reverend Willie G and his new side kick, Elwood Francis on bass, who has taken over for the late great Dusty Hill, busted loose as everyone house stood up to greet the band. Lean and mean similar to skeletons in leather outfits, Billy and Frances took charge of the show from the get go! And lets not forget the un-bearded one, Mr. Frank Beard behind the kit keeping time. Without any intro, pyro or stage props, ZZ Top were there to deliver the goods Texas Style, hot on the plate with plenty of fixins on the side!
With two pocket full of hits to choose from, how many could they play in a span of 80 minutes? Well lets lay it out; "Thank You" from their 1979 LP Deguello was totally cool beans, blues favorites "Waiting For The Bus" and "Jesus Just Left Chicago" were two more familiar goodies. Classic ZZ Top! The hits just kept on coming as they rolled into "Pearl Necklace" a little kinky sexual number from their 1980 El Loco LP and of course "We Bad, We Nationwide" had the fans in a roar.
As the night continued, Billy introduced his latest number, a hot little diddy called "I Gotsta Get Paid" which surprisingly was familiar to a handful of folks in the rear. From there, the show topped out with "My Heads In Mississippi", and the big 1973 radio hit "La Grange" from their classic LP Tres Hombres. Going back to their early roots, they performed "Brown Sugar" a tatsty blues number from the bands debut LP. The band quickly left the stage soon after, but returned to finish out the show with some fan favorites. Breaking out the Fuzzy Guitars, most in the house knew what was next... "Legs", from their mega hit album Eliminator and of course a bigger video hit from the early dazes on MTV! With one more song to play to finish out their set, we all knew which song that would be, but how, how, how would they pull it off? With a short introduction by Billy Gibbons, he tipped his hat to his band mate Dusty Hill, pointed to the sky and gave the house a surprise as they performed "Tush" with recorded vocal tracks by the late bassist.
The unmistakable guitar tone Billy Gibbons is known for is one of the main reasons for ZZ Tops 50 years success. A true Texas blues guitar legend, praised by the one and only Jimi Hendrix and many of his contemporary guitarists, Billy has carried the weight of this 3-piece band for decades with album after album and tour after tour. Even with the passing of his long time friend, his main partner in crime, The Pleaser, Mr. Dusty Hill, Billy Gibbons has managed to carry on the music and the magic ZZ Top is known for and shows no sign of slowing down. With the blessing by Dusty to have Elwood Francis step in and carry the torch, ZZ Top continues to tour and carry on the great tradition of Texas Rock and Roll!