ZZ Top still rocks

The most famous beards in music are a little greyer than their 1980s heyday, but ZZ Top proved on Wednesday night they can still rock with the best of them.

The Texas trio ripped through a blues-drenched 90-minute set at a sold-out, standing-room-only Thunder Bay Community Auditorium that took the audience on a tour of their 45-year musical journey, from guitarist Billy Gibbons’ beginnings at the feet of guitar legend Jimi Hendrix through an endless stream of hits that saw them conquer the early age of MTV.

Gibbons, bassist Dusty Hill and drummer Frank Beard – ironically enough the only clean-shaven member of the band – were in fine form from start to finish, opening with Got Me Under Pressure, from 1983’s breakout album Eliminator.

By the time they closed with their 1975 classic Tush, the audience, who paid $140 apiece to watch, was in a near frenzy, having spent the entire show on their feet reliving their younger years – or in some cases their parents’ adolescence.

Sticking to a familiar set list, Gibbons, Hill and Beard delivered on less familiar songs like Jesus Just Left Chicago and Pincushion, warming the rock-ready crowd with a blues sampler that had Gibbons calling on a leggy, blonde techie named Allie Cat to bring him a proper blues hat to get him in the mood.

“We could do this all night long,” he said after pounding out Rock Me Baby, before launching into Freddie King’s gritty I Loved a Woman.

Gibbons, 60, his voice gravelly after years on the road, was no-nonsense onstage, though he did take time to banter a little with the crowd, taking note of a geographical oddity about the city before offering up one of the band’s biggest hits.

“I guess we’re in Thunder Bay ... but you never know. It never gets dark up here. That’s just as good a reason as any to put on some cheap sunglasses.”

Gibbons saluted Hendrix midway through the bill, dusting off his hit Hey Joe. Hendrix, whose picture graced the screen behind the band, once told talk-show host Johnny Carson that Gibbons was his favourite guitar player.

Things heated up for good an hour into the set, when the famous cherry red 1933 Ford the band made famous on the Eliminator cover and in their videos, made its first appearance on the video screen. (The original is housed at Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.)

Beard, playing a skull-encrusted drum kit that had fans lining up along the stage before the show to snap pictures, belted out a short drum solo before Gibbons and Hill ripped into Gimme All Your Lovin’ and Sharp Dressed Man, hits that made ZZ Top famous and are staples on classic rock radio to this very day.

The two front men switched to fur-covered instruments for Legs, a rip-roarin’ version that had the crowd screaming for more.

After a momentary break and the addition of matching sequin-lined black jackets, they got it in gear for the three-song encore, kicked off with Elvis Presley’s Viva Las Vegas, followed by their 1973 hit La Grange. They wrapped up their show with a fiery version of Tush, taking time to bow as one before leaving the stage for good.