WHETHER YOU call them Zee-Zee, or Zed-Zed Top, the hard-boogying Texas trio just get better with age.
Well, almost.
Last night, Festival Plaza became ground zero for ass-shaking blues fans, the kind of hard-core fans who ride Harleys, smoked some weed, were comfortable with public nudity and loved to get a good grinding funk on.
And those who want to be.
The quintessential Texas boogie band is still at it and after 36 years together -- that's verging on the prehistoric era for rock and roll -- they survive and thrive because they're one of the few bands left that still play fast and dirty, the way rock and blues should be played.
Nope, ZZ Top isn't ready for the museum just yet.
A capacity crowd of bikers and wannabes packed just about every inch of Festival Plaza to drink beer, see ZZ and then drink some more beer. Fans made the most of long lineups by dancing and cavorting freely.
Oh, to have the pizza and poutine concessions last night. On a more serious note, with barely 20 porta-potties for 20,000-plus partyers, those long queues proved a definite cramp -- and I use that word intentionally -- for fans, particularly when ZZ Top started playing. Meanwhile, getting from one end of Festival Plaza to the other took a good 15 minutes.
Enough of the festival experience colour. Everyone knew ZZ Top would draw one of Bluesfest's largest crowds. After all, it's the first time in three years the two beards -- guitarist Billy Gibbons and bass player Dusty Hill, along with the clean-shaven drummer Frank Beard -- have played the capital.
Opening with a throbbing bass electrobeat as fast as a '69 Cuda off a red light, the boys opened the gig with Got Me Under Pressure.
Good golly, does this Texas trio know how to put on a show. Dressing the stage like a derelict strip club in foil and lurid red lighting proved the right setting for Gibbons' and Hill's smooth-stepping, finger-pointing paired choreography.
They played raunchy favourites like Rattlesnake Shake and La Grange as well as nastier hypnotic hits from the 1980s, including Sharp Dressed Man, Legs, Cheap Sunglasses, Gimme All Your Lovin' as well as a song they've been covering since Elvis walked the Earth: Jailhouse Rock. Then you could barely hear them for all the lusty, loud cheers.
While a little showmanship goes a long way, the band's performance just hinted at the awesome playing power of old. Gibbons' voice was shot, barely rising above a growling whisper. That's not always a bad thing on a song like Sharp Dressed Man, but for my money, I would have liked more definition from the vocals.
Still, I would have gladly traded in my laptop for the chance to do the Tube Snake Boogie with one of the best party bands around.
denis.armstrong@ott.sunpub.com
REVIEW:
ZZ TOP
Festival Plaza
'Raunchy faves!'
-- DENIS ARMSTRONG
Sun Rating: 4 out of 5
--ottawasun.com