This week Gigseen are bringing you another fantastic concert to enjoy at your own leisure. Our Gig of The Week featured concerts are completely FREE all week - all you have to do is register at Gigseen TV, sit back and relax as we bring you ZZ Top.
Each week, A Closer Look At... is intended to help you find out a little more about the featured artist and their concert. Or, if you're already a die-hard fan, it's a chance to remind yourself of the talent and spectacle on offer!
If you were a teen in the early 80s and watched MTV, you will have undoubtedly seen just about every ZZ Top video a few thousands times as you air guitar-ed along. ZZ Top were one of the few rock bands to have truly exploited the MTV music video medium in order to achieve mega-stardom. Songs like Legs and Sharp Dressed Man (which appear in this concert) were MTV staples, and more importantly, gave the bearded band an identity in the world of Top 40 radio.
In 2007, ZZ Top were heading into their 40th year as global Rock stars. This concert captures their performance at the Nokia Theater in Grand Prairie, Texas on November 1st 2007, before an enthusiastic hometown crowd, and despite being in their fourth decade, they still deliver a 17-song hit-filled set, 85 minutes of wicked blues and gritty rock ‘n’ roll that keeps the faithful “beer drinkers and hell raisers” happy.
What's apparent in this brilliant live concert is the ability of the band and their musicianship. The rhythm section of Dusty Hill and Frank Beard are a well oiled machine, effortlessly creating a solid foundation for Billy Gibbons to lay down some classic Rock n Roll guitar riffs and solos. The gravelly, gruff tones of Gibbons' vocals has increased over the years and is hugely satisfying to listen to, benefiting particularly with songs like Jesus Just Left Chicago and I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide. Their grass-roots influences are also seen in tracks such as Just Got Paid, where Gibbons uses a slide to get that real dirty Blues-Rock feel and make the guitar sing.
As genuine roots musicians, they have few peers; Gibbons is one of America's finest blues guitarists working in the arena rock idiom, influenced by the originators of the form and British blues-rock guitarists like Peter Green.
For die-hard fans of ZZ Top, this concert really does have everything, as they delve through their renowned catalogue of 80's anthems and Rock classics it's bound to provoke some welcome nostalgia. For those who aren't so well-acquainted with 'The Top' (where were you in the 80s?), the combination of synchronised dance moves, sing-along choruses and tight, well-executed performances will surely be enough to pull you in.
To get you in the mood, here's ZZ Top performing Gimme All Your Lovin' at the VH1 Rock Honors live concert, also from 2007.