The little ol’ band from Texas, joined by Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Grand Rapids’ own Junior Valentine, closed out the three-day festival at Fifth Third Ballpark with a truckload of their rock hits. (Review, photos)
ZZ Rapids: Dusty Hill and Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top gave Fifth Third Ballpark all their lovin’ on Thursday. (Photos/Anthony Norkus Photography)
Those sharp-dressed men in the cheap sunglasses still know how to crank out more than enough Texas-fueled blues-rock to get a weekend party started early.
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The enduring, hard-touring ZZ Top closed out the three-day, 2013 edition of Rock the Rapids at Fifth Third Ballpark on Thursday night with a colorful, short-but-tight-as-expected set of lusty hits — and a few new classics — for about 8,500 West Michigan fans who sure didn’t seem ready to let summer fade away.
Kenny Wayne Shepherd
More than 40 years into their wild, woolly and remarkably successful musical ride — and just a couple of days after a record-setting run of eight straight sold-out concerts with Kid Rock at DTE Energy Music Theatre — guitarist Billy Gibbons, bassist Dusty Hill and drummer Frank Beard certainly know the drill: Don sequined cowboy suits, trot out a bunch of infectious, crowd-pleasing, blues-hued crowd favorites, play ’em loud, and toss in a few choreographed stage moves.
Oh, and stroke those long beards now and again.
Those favorites included the familiar “Got Me Under Pressure,” “Waitin’ for the Bus,” “Jesus Just Left Chicago” and “Gimme All Your Lovin'” which got ZZ Top’s truck rolling on Thursday night, newer tunes such as “I Gotsta Get PAid,” “Chartreuse” and “Flyin’ High” from the band’s most recent studio album, 2012’s “La Futura,” and an encore that boasted the can’t-leave-without-playing “Tube Snake Boogie,” “La Grange” and “Tush.”
Grand Rapids’ Junior Valentine opened Thursday night’s show. (Photo/Anthony Norkus Photography)
And all clocking in at barely an hour and eight minutes.
That followed a one-hour display of compelling, bluesy rock from guitar wizard Kenny Wayne Shepherd (who played everything from his own “Blue on Black” to Jimi Hendrix’s “Voodoo Child,” with renowned drummer Chris Layton driving the train) and a short but passionate opening set from Grand Rapids’ own Junior Valentine.
(The show capped what certainly was a successful three-day stint for Rock the Rapids, which moved this year from downtown Grand Rapids to Fifth Third Ballpark in what organizers called a “building year” for the festival. Check reviews/photos of Daughtry/Lifehouse on Day 2 and Thompson Square on Day 1.)
It’s really no wonder that ZZ Top’s chest-thumping, rock-driven blues has survived and thrived this long, considering the boys’ rollicking attitude, tongue-in-check subject matter and synchronized swagger, enhanced on Thursday by two video screens flanking the band.
While Gibbons’ voice has grown ever raspier – perhaps taxed by those eight consecutive shows in Detroit – it’s more than well-suited to the bluesy growl of ZZ Top’s songs. And Gibbons continues to manhandle the zestiest, tone-luscious guitar this side of El Paso.
So if their approach might seem a tad contrived and formulaic, it’s a pretty darned good formula … one that’s kept fans happy — and well-oiled — for more than four decades.
ZZ TOP AT ROCK THE RAPIDS: THE LOCAL SPINS PHOTO GALLERY BY ANTHONY NORKUS (8/22/13)
Email John Sinkevics at jsinkevics@gmail.com.
Copyright 2013, Spins on Music
