ZZ Top Without Dusty and Frank Must Be Bittersweet for Billy Gibbons

It must be a strange feeling for Billy Gibbons to have to celebrate 50 years of ZZ Top on tour without his co-founders and best friends Dusty Hill and Frank Beard. The good news is that Gibbons is continuing the legacy of one of America’s greatest Blues-Rock bands.

Hill passed way in 2021. Before passing he gave his blessing to the band continuing with his guitar tech Elwood Francis. Francis not only knows the guitars and knows the tunings, he also looks the part with his long grey beard.

Drummer Frank Beard stepped away temporarily from the band due to illness and could not make this Australian tour. He is currently undergoing therapy. In his place, another longtime member of the ZZ Top crew, John Douglas is on drums.

That puts the pressure on Gibbons. ‘Got Me Under Pressure’ is the most appropriate song he could start with under the circumstances.

ZZ Top have been co-headlining the Red Hot Summer tour with George Thorogood and the Destroyers so I assume we are cutting cutdown sets from both. ZZ Top clocked in under 90 minutes with this show

‘Tush’ was the most obvious exclusion from the setlist. Understandably, considering the song featured lead vocals from Dusty.

The other missing parts that Aussies of the 80s would be very familiar with were ‘Sleeping Bag’, ‘Rough Boy’, ‘Velcro Fly’, ‘Doubleback’ and ‘Viva Las Vegas’. In the late 80s with FM radio taking over as the dominate medium, ZZ Top were high rotation on commercial radio in Australia. This setlist mirrors what immediately came before Australia on the US dates. Considering the recent and major line-up adjustment, it is much safer for Billy to stick to a standard setlist than improvise a show.

Lets face it, Elwood is not Dusty and John is not Frank. While Elwood was in the spotlight, John was in the dark for the entire show. Elwood was certainly styled to make the show feel like Dusty was there. I am also not 100% certain that every note coming out the speaker was coming from the stage. At times there was often a lot of active sounds with a lot of inactive playing.

If you came for the condensed version of the ZZ Top catalogue and weren’t too fussy about authenticity, then there were real concert highlights. From the start of ‘Got Me Under Pressure’ ZZ Top had won over this crowd. ‘La Grange’ never grows old. ‘Legs’, ‘Sharp Dressed Man’ and ‘Gimme All Your Loving’ have all aged graceful and if you have an FM radio nearby, never far from your ears.

I personally loved the earlier stuff from the pre-Eliminator era like Sam & Dave’s ‘I Thank You’ and ‘I’m Baad, I’m Nationwide’ from 1979’s ‘Deguello’, ‘Waiting for the Bus’ and ‘Jesus Just Left Chicago’ from 73’s ‘Tres Hombres’, ‘Brown Sugar’ (not the Stones song) off the first album and ‘Just Got Paid’ off the second.

By the time ‘Eliminator’ arrived and broke ZZ Top into the mainstream, the die-hard fans had them all to ourselves for a decade. ‘Eliminator’ was the eighth Top album. If you came in there and continued the journey forward without looking back, now is the time to get into the Deloreon and doubleback to 1885 to when ZZ Top were first discovered by Marty McFly’s great-grandfather.

: ZZ Top By Mary Boukouvalas

: ZZ Top By Mary Boukouvalas

: ZZ Top By Mary Boukouvalas

: ZZ Top By Mary Boukouvalas

: ZZ Top By Mary Boukouvalas

The setlist was:

Got Me Under Pressure (from Eliminator, 1983)
I Thank You (from Deguello, 1979)
Waitin’ for the Bus (from Tres Hombres, 1973)
Jesus Just Left Chicago (from Tres Hombres, 1973)
Gimme All Your Lovin’ (from Eliminator, 1983)
Pearl Necklace (from El Loco, 1981)
I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide (from Deguello, 1979)
I Gotsta Get Paid (from La Futura, 2012)
My Head’s in Mississippi (from Recycler, 1990)
Sixteen Tons (Merle Travis cover) (from Greatest Hits From Around The World, 2016)
Just Got Paid (from Rio Grande Mud, 1972)
Sharp Dressed Man (from Eliminator, 1983)
Legs (from Eliminator, 1983)

Encore:
Brown Sugar (from ZZ Top’s First Album, 1971)
Tube Snake Boogie (from El Loco, 1981)
La Grange (from Tres Hombres, 1973)

ZZ Top will perform for Red Hot Summer this Saturday and Sunday 10 and 11 May 2025 with George Thorogood & The Destroyers, The Living End, Baby Animals, Rose tattoo and Dallas Frasca.

The final theatre show will be 13 May at ICC Sydney Theatre with George Thorogood and the Destroyers and Dallas Frasca.

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