In Boston: 'So good, so good': Will Swenson and cast shine in rousing, Broadway-bound Neil Diamond bio-musical ![]() In the midst of that night’s miraculous mayhem, he looked over at me as if to ask, ‘How am I doing?’ What can I say? It was sensational!” “Our friendship grew and after those dates, he invited me to tag along with their private entourage so I did … through the desert Southwest and onto Los Angeles where I got to view their big L.A. Jimi was warm and friendly, even kind of shy off stage as opposed to the wild guy when he was on,” Gibbons remembers. “Our pre-ZZ band, the Moving Sidewalks, landed a spot on the early tour with The Experience back in the day. ![]() When asked about this one-of-a-kind acknowledgment and his relationship with Hendrix, Gibbons paints a picture of a down-to-earth musician while keeping grounded himself. One tidbit of rock lore that has managed to stick with the band is Jimi Hendrix’s admiration of fellow guitarist Gibbons, whom Hendrix once proclaimed to be his favorite guitarist. ZZ Top is one of the few rock and roll bands to still be active over 50 years after first forming, and during that time, its members have seen and heard quite a bit. Elwood stridently locked in immediately with a great, intuitive feel with the mindset of the band covering ‘then’ and, of course, ‘the now.’” Being friends with Jimi Hendrix and advice from a blues legend “The tunes, the moves and vibe are all in place. “Elwood’s delivery is one which can be called ‘very smooth’ having remained in step with us for more than three decades now,” says Gibbons. More music: Golden opportunities: Happy anniversary to Castle Hill and Wequassett's jazz fest is backĮnter ZZ Top’s longtime guitar-tech Elwood Francis, who has filled in for Hill and allowed Gibbons and Beard to continue playing live and honor their late bandmate. “At the time, it was thought to be temporary and The Dust would return but, alas, that was not to be. He wanted the roadshow to roll onward knowing Elwood had the ‘goods’ as did we all, so we figured it was absolutely sanctioned.” “Dusty directed and aimed making the decision to invite Elwood,” Gibbons explains. It wasn’t as hard of a decision for Gibbons and Beard as you may suspect, and that’s thanks to Hill himself. How could they possibly go on without one of their three members, someone who played such a pivotal part in the band’s success and laid down the groundwork for all their biggest hits? So, when Hill died in summer 2021, it felt to many that maybe that was it for ZZ Top. Ironically enough because of his name, drummer Frank Beard is the only member of the band who didn’t have one. Synonymous with the big beards was Hill, who along with Gibbons was known for always sporting the impressive facial hair. ![]() When you think of ZZ Top, your mind probably conjures up images of big beards, cool cars and those fuzzy guitars from the “Legs” music video. The passing of The Dust and a decision to keep playing “An unusual coupling of an album that can both be heard and seen!” Gibbons says. “RAW” lives up to its name, and for ZZ Top fans, it is required viewing and listening. ![]() The jams on “RAW” do indeed “slam” with blistering renditions of classics “La Grange” and “Just Got Paid,” plus deeper cuts like “Brown Sugar” from the band’s 1971 debut album. “Going back about four decades, finding us in a similar circumstance, is as close as could be compared.”Īnother fascinating band story: 'Songs hold up': Three Dog Night's Hutton talks Cape Cod show, new album and his unusual past + 4 more concerts to see “The band did indeed work close together to a great extent recording ZZ Top's ‘La Futura’, yet ‘Raw’ became intensely more intimate and fast-moving as the jams began to slam,” Gibbons explains. Recording “RAW” in such fashion was something the band had not done in some time. 11, Mary Chapin Carpenter, who’s got 15 Grammy Award nominations and five wins plus multiple country music awards, will return to Payomet. 7, the “Start Making Sense: Talking Heads Tribute” with a seven- to 10-piece band led by frontman Jon Braun is the entertainment for the “Once in a Lifetime” Cocktail Party fundraiser, but non-partiers are also invited to the show. 6, it’s the Garcia Project, on tour performing full, classic Jerry Garcia Band setlists and celebrating what would have been Garcia’s 80th birthday. ► The week at Payomet Performing Arts Center (29 Old Dewline Road, North Truro) starts out with tribute concerts to beloved bands of the past. Read more about the musicians' journey below, plus here are five more concerts to consider for the weekend: And one of ZZ Top's stops this year is the Cape Cod Melody Tent in Hyannis. The death last year of longtime ZZ Top bassist Dusty Hill led many fans to speculate that the band's run was over, but that's not the case.
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