ZZ Top turned up the fun at Colorado’s Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre (Greenwood Village, CO) with some Texas blues-rock & roll. They are celebrating ZZ Top’s 50th anniversary with the worldwide ‘Texas Bash’ tour. The boys rocked like it was the 80s. It was a greatest hits show from their five decades of music. The Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre had a packed venue, an almost sold-out show for a Tuesday night.
Long-time Denver Broncos’ radio and tv personality Rick Lewis and his band, the Rick Lewis Project, was the opening act. A mixture of classic rock covers with a few originals sung by the talented Sarah Hornbuckle. The perfect warm-up to get the audience ready for a ZZ Top sing-along. It’s great to see ZZ Top supporting the Denver music scene by having a local band opening.
Billy and Elwood began the night with the Bolin custom Peeler T-Style guitars (well-worn red paint and claw-like scratches). Frank was sitting behind a new black Tama drum set up. The front of the double bass drums featured wooden whiskey barrels graphics with “Senor Beard” written in script. The band played behind stacks of Magnatone amps and a starry night backdrop.
Dave Preston – Guitar
Joe Sellars – Keyboardist
Brian Hornbuckle – Bass
Rick Lewis – Drums
Sarah Hornbuckle – Vocals
Michael Hornbuckle – Guitar
Cody Templeman – Guitar
The Little Ol’ Band From Texas kicked off the night with “Got Me Under Pressure.” Behind his dark sunglasses, Billy welcomes the Colorado fans back to live music and acknowledges Dusty Hill’s passing. Gibbons introduces bassist Elwood Francis to the Denver audience as the handpicked successor by Dusty Hill. Elwood Francis fits the ZZ Top image with dark sunglasses and a long shaggy beard.
Following this repartee between Billy and Elwood’s lockdown whiskers, they did a bluesy cover of Sam & Dave’s “I Thank You” from their Degüello album. A fan tossed a bouquet of roses on stage as a tribute to Dusty Hill. Gibbons picked it up and placed it on top of Frank’s bass drum. You can feel Dusty’s presence within the music, the band, and the audience tonight. Not missing a beat, the trio played a dirty blue song from the 1973 album, Tres Hombre, “Jesus Just Left Chicago.”
The set continued with their famous MTV video hits from the 80s. This included “Gimme All Your Lovin,” “Pearl Necklace,” “Sharp Dressed Man,” and 1979 single, “I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide.” The next song was a track from their 2012 studio album, La Futura, “I Gotsta Get Paid.”
Billy introduced their Merle Travis cover of “Sixteen Tons,” with a narrative of collaborating with guitar legend Jeff Beck. Gibbons switched to Pearly, his ’59 Sunburst Les Paul for the early classic, “Just Got Paid.” ZZ Top wrapped up their main set with the ’80s MTV favorite, “Legs,” with Gibbons and Elwood switching to their white furry guitars.
The trio began the encore after a very quick breather. Elwood and Gibbons switch to custom turquoise blue-green guitars for the encore. They started with “Brown Sugar,” a rarity from ZZ Top’s First Album. This was followed by the 1973 Texas boogie-woogie, “La Grange”. The night ended with a tribute to Dusty Hill. ZZ Top closed the night with Dusty Hill’s “Tush.” The lead vocal was from the last live recording of Hill singing “Tush.” Billy Gibbons move the bouquet of roses to the front of the drum riser. He placed Dusty’s classic hat on top of the flowers. Billy lit up his cigar with assistance from his roadie as he was playing his guitar solo. This indicated tonight’s fun was coming to an end and remembrance of Dusty.
ZZ Top turned up the fun at Colorado’s Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre. What a fun night to sing along to all the ZZ Top hits, plus watching Billy Gibbons, one of the great bluesmen, play. Elwood Francis is a worthy successor to Dusty Hill. Joined by Frank Beard, rounding out the ZZ Top trio on drums, they gave the Colorado fans a night of hard-driving Texas boogie-woogie blues-rock.
Band:
Billy Gibbons – Vocals and Guitar
Frank Beard – Drums and Percussion
Elwood Francis – Bass and Backing vocals
Setlist:
1.) Got Me Under Pressure
2.) I Thank You (Sam & Dave cover)
3.) Jesus Just Left Chicago
4.) Gimme All Your Lovin’
5.) Pearl Necklace
6.) I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide
7.) I Gotsta Get Paid
8.) My Head’s in Mississippi
9.) Sixteen Tons (Merle Travis cover)
10.) Just Got Paid
11.) Sharp Dressed Man
12.) Legs
Encore:
13.) Brown Sugar
14.) La Grange
15.) Tush
Follow ZZ Top Online:
Follow Rick Lews Project Online:
Hi, I’m a professional photographer based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. I started to take photos at concerts because I get bored very easy and need something to do while watching a musicians or bands perform. So I started taking my point and shoot camera with me and recording what I saw and to show my friends. At first, the camera was just a photographic diary of my concert experience. But after a while I started liking the quality of my shots and concert photography became my hobby. I decided to post my pictures on instagram and facebook. I think fans liked what they saw and started to follow me. Concert photography became my passion and finally I asked All Music Magazine if I could take photos for them. They like my concert photography Instagram page and that opened the door to a whole new area – the photo pit. Now I am happy to say I’m chasing my photography dream – as a professional concert photographer.
