As far as the Dayton rock crowd was concerned, Wright State
University's Ervin J. Nutter Center had its official opening Thursday
night with a highly visual mix of stunning special effects and three
chord blues by ZZ Top.

Although the set list was somewhat predictable, consisting mostly of
the hits one would expect to hear from the Texas trio, the show's
playful feel was evident from the outset. The band began by playing
Planet of Women perched atop piles of crushed cars on a stage designed
like an auto junkyard, with drummer Frank Beard set up on the back of
a flatbed truck.

Guitarist Billy Gibbons and bassist Dusty Hill, looking like identical
twin sons of Rip Van Winkle with long beards and matching black suits
and shades, contributed plenty of cheesy choreography.

In keeping with the theme of the group's latest album, Recycler, a
large claw, magnet and compactor were used to create an electronic
drum kit for Beard to use on some of the more recent, lightweight
material such as Concrete and Steel before literally recycling the
band at the show's end.

The show did feature a few well-received surprises, such as Waitin'
For the Bus and a loose version of Jesus Just Left Chicago from the
band's third album, Tres Hombres.

But the blues is what ZZ Top does best, as Gibbons demonstrated with a
slow-burning solo on 2000 Blues, followed by the equally impressive
Blue Jean Blues. The guitarist smiled and simply said, "Yeah," after a
series of searing, sustained notes, and then fired off a barrage of
hot licks that stopped the show.

The claw and magnet moved over the band members during Under Pressure,
scooping them up and depositing them (or look-alike dummies, anyway)
into the smoke-belching compactor. The trio then returned "recycled"
in maroon suits for Sharp Dressed Man, while a bevy of curvy video
vixens came out to clean up the stage, only to be recycled themselves
for the show closer, Legs.

The Black Crowes' Rolling Stones-inspired barroom boogie transferred
well to the arena setting in its opening set, although the volume was
pushed to chromosome-damaging levels.

The Atlanta-based band was sure to include its hit singles Jealous
Again and Otis Redding's Hard to Handle, but the highlights were the
acoustically accompanied She Talks to the Angels, and a raucous
blues-rock rendition of the Beatles' Get Back.

-Dayton Daily News(OH) January 11, 1991

Copyright, 1991, Cox Ohio Publishing. All rights reserved.