(opening act: Brooks and Dunn)
Molson Amphitheatre, Toronto
August 24, 2008
by Live Music Head
“That’s it? What a short show!”, I say.
“Yup, barely a 70 minute set”, says David.
“I think I’d be a little upset had we paid for this show”.
“But Brooks and Dunn did open”, David reminds me.
Seeing as we missed the opening act, I forgot that,
but I still expected ZZ Top to play at least 90 minutes.
So much for Billy Gibbons’ comment about playing all night long.
Feeling like we’re in a herd of cattle
we eventually catch up with Kerry,
and her new ZZ tank top at the merchandise table.
All we need to do now is retrieve my bike helmut.
Fearing I’d act out in a fit of rage and hurl my helmut at the band,
security made me check it on the way in.
As we make the long trek out of Ontario Place,
we talked about the show.
I’d arrived minutes before ZZ Top hit the stage,
while Kerry and David were still backstage at the meet and greet.
“And what was it like meeting the men of ZZ Top?”, I ask them.
“They’re incredibly thin”, I’m told.
While my friends were meeting the band,
I was in my seat to the left side of the stage in the 200 section
directly under the big screen.
And directly beside a biker couple smoking pot.
Despite not being the biggest ZZ Top fan,
it feels good to be here.
The weather is perfect,
and I made it through the crowded concession area unscathed.
Spotting several cowboy hats waiting in line to pee,
I couldn’t help but think…
If the men’s can has a line-up like that,
I don’t want to see the ladies room.
The Little Band from Texas still draws them in.
The lights go down at 9:40 and they open with Under Pressure.
Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill do their little strut together,
dressed in black jackets, black pants, and stylish black boots.
They also sport backward black baseball caps
and black sunglasses.
Drum bashes bring in Give Me All Your Lovin’ for the second song,
with the image of the red car from that album cover
on the screen behind the drum kit.
It was only a while ago
I realized just how many big songs these guys have.
They've had monster hits with the more recent material,
and they’re probably stinking rich because of it,
but I prefer the monster hits of the early days.
Like Fool for Your Stockings.
Biker dude beside me is also sporting black sunglasses,
a big smile, tattoos, and a Harley Davidson t-shirt.
Laying back in his seat smoking a spliff,
he looks over at me and says,
“I love it”,
just as his biker mama
(who’s been jumping up and down beside him with fists pumping)
looks down at him and says,
“I can’t believe you’re sitting down
Get the fuck up!”
He got up.
“Have mercy”, sings the band.
“King Billy” is what reads on the Gibbons guitar,
and when he turns it over on the big screen, it reads “beer”.
It may be only rock and roll, but that’s tacky,
for otherwise stylish men of the blues.
The stage is shiny metallic and black
and Jesus Just Left Chicago,
not Toronto.
Frank Beard smokes cigarettes from the drums between songs
while Gibbons tells road stories that I can’t seem to hear.
“Did he really say they came to Toronto by car
from San Francisco by way of Vegas?”
Before going to Deguello, my favourite album...
I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide!
Perhaps I’m more of a fan than I thought
because I know every song they’ve done so far.
When David arrives at our seats,
he reminds me that this band
includes the same members since they started.
They are only three, a power trio.
With booming bass and driving southern guitar rock,
they stick with Deguello,
but the vocals are a little weak with Cheap Sunglasses.
Their suits sparkle along with the chains around their necks
and the rings on Billy’s fingers,
when someone says “lowdown dirty blues”.
Too bad it wasn’t Lowdown in the Street.
Billy Gibbon’s guitar tech makes several trips to the stage,
toting an endless stream of guitars for him to play.
And some slide was shown on Sharp Dressed Man.
They’re definitely sharp dressed men.
Even their beards are perfectly groomed.
“baby goes crazy for a sharp dressed man”.
When Kerry arrives with Brad
“As in Pitt?”, I say, shaking his hand,
over the loudness of the white fur guitars with Legs.
And when they went into La Grange,
I discovered I could listen to this song again.
Centuries ago,
this song always caused me to think of an idiot boyfriend.
But apparently no longer.
A walkway extends from the stage into the audience,
for two Texans to carry their guitars and their strut
further into the crowd to outstretched hands and arms.
And then it was one for the boys…
“I ain’t askin for much”, sings Dusty.
“lord take me downtown… I’m just looking for some tush”.
Dusty Hill has been vocally quiet up to this point,
and Brad says his early goodbyes
when Brooks and Dunn are invited back to the stage,
turning the band into a five-piece.
One plays harp and the other plays guitar,
helping out on Tube Snake Boogie...
“I got a gal, she lives on the hill
She won't do it, but her sister will
When she boogie, she do the tube snake boogie”!
I thought biker couple had left,
but now they’ve returned
with a bigger drunken swagger than before.
He keeps leaning in.
But if he spills that beer on me...
If that happens,
I might have to take biker dude down
with my best upper cut.
The second song for the five-piece is Jailhouse Rock?
“Why would they do this song
when they have so many others of their own?"
It turns out this is the last song with no encore.
The lights are going up and all that can be heard is,
Okie from Muskokie.
We walked and talked about the show for some time.
The three of us,
Kerry, David and I.
A power trio ourselves it seems,
all Leos fresh from birthdays.
And all wearing Converse runners.
We suddenly find ourselves on the CNE midway
and wow,
I wouldn’t consider coming anywhere
near this place during the day,
but right now it feels absolutely wonderful.
Rides spinning and lights blinking,
I'm a kid again.
Calendar pages flipping backward,
and fond memories flood the mind
as we stroll past the rides, the games and the food vendors.
Junk food vendors!
Suddenly I want french fries, veggie dogs and pizza slices.
I want all the junk food I can smell.
You’d think I’d smoked some of that spliff with the biker dude,
but I already had poutine on my birthday week.
And an entire box of Kraft Dinner.
I even indulged in a big honkin’ slice of Black Forest birthday cake!
The last thing I need now are midway fries and cheap pizza slices.
David and Kerry cave
and play Pony Wheel
and Kerry wins straight off the top, doubling her money.
But “No David, it’s okay...
neither of us really need a big stuffed panda bear
for you to feel like a man”.
It's the potato I want.
My mouth waters with thoughts of
floating fries in salty cardboard dishes of vinegar.
My turn to cave!
"Mmmmm…",
as I dig into a mound
with a two-pronged cardboard fork.
"C’mon, let’s get out of here!"
ZZ Top website...
http://www.zztop.com/
