ZZ Top enters their 56th year of existence with a return to New Zealand, where in 1987, the Texas trio played to some 80,000 fans at Western Springs. That was during a commercial heyday powered by hits in which blues-rock guitar was overlayed by aerobic 1980s pop production – and by videos that cemented ZZ Top’s image as hot rod-driving hirsute hombres in hats, wraparound shades and deadpan expressions.
The upcoming shows follow the 2021 death of bassist founding member Dusty Hill, who has been replaced by longtime guitar technician Elwood Francis. Hill, drummer Frank Beard (the cleaner-shaven one) and singer-guitarist Billy Gibbons were all 20 years old when they first got together in Houston in 1969.
Via email, Gibbons answered some questions about being in a band that was clearly built to last …
ZZ Top played a legendary show in Auckland at Western Springs in 1987 with an audience estimated to be as big as 80,000 people. What are your memories of that concert?
We were told it was the largest gathering in one place at one time in the history of the Southern Hemisphere. Not sure if that’s entirely correct yet we were on a cloud learning that. It was certainly a grand show, and we really got off on the massive energy generated by that enormous and very enthusiastic crowd.
That tour was during the band’s commercial peak which lasted throughout much of the mid to late 1980s. Did you see the end of that era coming?
What? That era ended? News to us, as we’ve never stopped doing what we always do and our audiences seem to be right there with us. Having those big hits helped generate new fans and those new fans, in turn, generated (or gave birth to) more new fans so it’s kind of like a self-perpetuating circumstance for us.
What ZZ Top albums – or periods of recording – do you think have stood the test of time the best?
We actually play material from our very first album and it sounds as contemporary as we’re ever going to sound. Our thing is, in a word, consistency, so we think of our endeavour as something that endures and grows. If we had to pick just one album it would be Tres Hombres and not just because of La Grange which was a breakthrough for us. It starts with Waitin’ for the Bus and that seamlessly segues into Jesus Just Left Chicago and that unexpected and unplanned medley is something that we, and our audiences, have come to appreciate to this very day.
You’ve recorded three solo albums since 2015, but ZZ Top haven’t released a studio album in quite some time. What do the solo albums allow you to do that the band albums don’t?
They’re kind of explorations into some realms that are a bit far afield from the essence of ZZ Top. Stepping out of the box provides a new context for something different while keeping one foot in the bluesy side of things.
The sound and the imagery of ZZ Top has long been tied to Texas. What do you think of the place these days?
Just put out a new track titled Livin’ It Up Down In Texas for the TV series, Landman. It kind of encapsulates the raucous, rough and tumble sensibility that’s characteristic of the exotic state of Texas. It’s hard-wired to our psyche in a very real sense.
Is there anything about ZZ Top – the sound, the lyrics, the sense of humour, the image, perhaps – you think is misunderstood?
Interesting question yet I think we haven’t had that problem. If you take our material at face value it’s kind of “out there”. However, when digging into the irony of it, it’s kind of “in there” so works on multiple levels.
Beards have become fashionable again in the past decade or so. Has this worried you at all?
After all this time, we really don’t fuss much about the beard. It seems to be permanently attached so that’s pretty reassuring.
With the passing of Dusty in 2021, were there any thoughts that maybe the band might not continue?
As the saying still stands, “the show must go on” and that’s what happened. The groove thing to keep on rockin’ continues within our outfit. l
ZZ Top tour dates: Spark Arena, Auckland, May 17; TSB Arena, Wellington, May 18.
