A Fun Night Out With ZZ Top

Some artists and bands you just have to see at least once in your life. ZZ Top is one of those legendary bands that I never saw play live before and I just wanted to check out. In fourty years they built an impressive discography with many hits. Their beards have grown longer, but the three piece keeps going strong.



ZZ Top at Heineken Music Hall Amsterdam, June 24 2014

At the beginning of the show, the two screens on stage start showing some kind of road movie with a hot sexy blonde girl. As seniors, the members of ZZ Top clearly still appreciate beautiful girls and cars. The transition from the movie to the live show isn't really smooth, but the three blues men don't mind and go right at it with 'Got Me Under Pressure'. It sets the mood for the one and a half hour show right away. Drummer Frank Beard is sitting behind his big drum kit, that looks like it got hit by a car shop. He remains a bit in the background while Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill do their thing at the front.



It looks like everything they play is quite rehearsed and there doesn't seem to be a lot of improvisation. But the easy and relaxed way they are showing is very entertaining. In all those years they are like Siamese twins, the way they move around stage, how the two look at each other. The blues men probably know how to read each other like a book. Their faces are hidden behind sunglasses (cheap ones I assume?) and their long beards, but now and then you can see a smile peep through.



Especially when they are playing a really slow blues or the Muddy Waters cover 'Catfish Blues' or the Hendrix cover 'Foxy Lady', they are definitely enjoying themselves. Bass player Hill is sometimes facing the screen, enjoying the visuals on it, that are quite nice actually. He must be enjoying the sexy blond from up close when pieces of the road movie are displayed. This way the show is very enjoyable and the fans love every minute of it.



The die hards must have seen it a hundred times and from the noise of chatting people around us, the big mess and beer on the floor, I can tell most people here are on a night out with friends, having a good time at a show of their favourite band. Normally this would be very annoying, but tonight it makes for a great atmosphere. It may not be a surprising show, but definitely one where both, musicians and fans, are having a good time. And isn't that what music is all about?



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Setlist
01. Got Me Under Pressure
02. Waitin' for the Bus
03. Jesus Just Left Chicago
04. Gimme All Your Lovin'
06. 05. I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide
07. Pincushion
08. I Gotsta Get Paid
09. Flyin' High
10. Foxy Lady
11. Catfish Blues
12. Cheap Sunglasses
13. My Head's in Mississippi
14. Chartreuse
15. Sharp Dressed Man
16. Legs
Encore
17. La Grange / Sloppy Drunk Jam
18. Tush
Encore
19. Tube Snake Boogie