ZZ Top returns to Hard Rock Live at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino on Tuesday, Nov. 1, at 8 p.m. Tickets go on sale Friday, June 17, at 10 a.m. Fans will have access to presale tickets beginning Thursday, June 16 at noon through Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood’s Facebook and Twitter pages.
ZZ Top aka “That Little Ol’ Band From Texas,” lays undisputed claim to being the longest running major rock band with its original personnel line-up intact. The Texas trio, Billy F. Gibbons, Dusty Hill and Frank Beard, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004.
In Houston, in the waning days of 1969, ZZ Top coalesced from the cores of two rival bands, Billy’s Moving Sidewalks and Frank and Dusty’s American Blues. The new group went on to record the appropriately titled “ZZ Top’s First Album” and “Rio Grande Mud” that reflected its strong blues roots. “Tres Hombres” (1973) catapulted the band to national attention with the hit “La Grange,” still one of the band’s signature pieces today. The song is unabashed elemental boogie, celebrating the institution that came to be known as “the best little whorehouse in Texas.” ZZ Top’s next hit was “Tush,” a song about the pursuit of “the good life” that was featured on “Fandango!” (1975). The band’s momentum and success built during its first decade culminated in the legendary World Wide Texas Tour with a production that included a longhorn steer, a buffalo, buzzards, rattlesnakes and a Texas-shaped stage.
Returning with two amazingly provocative albums, “Deguello” and “El Loco,” ZZ Top’s next release, “Eliminator,” was something of a paradigm shift. The group’s roots blues skew was intact but added to the mix were tech-age trappings that soon found a visual outlet with the nascent MTV. Suddenly, Gibbons, Hill and Beard were video icons, playing a kind of Greek chorus in videos that highlighted the album’s three smash singles: “Gimme All Your Lovin’,” “Sharp Dressed Man” and “Legs.” The melding of grungy guitar-based blues with synth-pop was seamless and continued with the follow-up album “Afterburner,” as the band continued its chart juggernaut.
“Recycler” was released in 1990, followed by “Antenna,” “Rhythmeen,” “XXX” and “Mescalero,” one of the deepest sets ever presented by the band with 16 tracks brimming with virtuoso musicianship, humorously enigmatic lyrics and even a track sung entirely in Spanish. More recently, a lavish four-CD box set compilation, “Chrome, Smoke & B.B.Q.,” and a two-CD distillation of that package, “Rancho Texicano,” were released prior to “The Complete Studio Albums” set.
In 2012, ZZ Top unveiled “La Futura,” its first studio album in nine years. Produced by Rick Rubin and Billy F. Gibbons and released on American Recordings, the album reflected the solid blues inspiration that has powered the band since the very beginning with a contemporary approach that underscored the group’s inclination to experiment and explore new sonic vistas. The album included the widely lauded “I Gotsta Get Paid” that has become both a video and in-concert sensation. ZZ Top’s rich history became the subject of a box set release the following year with “ZZ Top: The Complete Studio Albums 1970-1990,” which offered 10 of the band’s most lauded albums all with the original mixes restored.
ZZ Top’s career retrospective “The Very Baddest” spans the entire course of its London, Warner Bros. and RCA years. Listeners can follow the evolution of the band’s sound from the early ‘70s into the ‘00s on either a 40-track double CD or a 20-track single CD. “Live at Montreux 2013,” released on Eagle Rock Entertainment on both Blu-ray and DVD formats, showcases the band’s live act.
Tickets cost $90, $70 and $50.*All seats are reserved and available at all Ticketmaster outlets online at www.myhrl.com, www.ticketmaster.com or charge by phone: 1-800-745-3000. Doors open one hour prior to show start time. *Additional fees may apply.