Last night I took a trip back to the early 1970’s. It began early in the day when I started structuring my things to head out on the one hour drive north to Rocky Mount, Virginia. My small checklist included my trusty Etymotic Research earplugs to help with the 95 Db level I would be listening to later for just over ninety minutes of amazing blues and rock and roll. I checked my phone for my digital ticket which all seemed in order. I headed out. I left a bit early as it had been a while since I had been to this venue. I had done some research to see if my favorite BBQ place was still open. Well it pays to check as Buddy’s BBQ was now Rocky Mountain BBQ up the street. I arrived in the chilly late afternoon ready to try out the pork platter with some coleslaw, hush puppies, and mac and cheese. With a tall glass of half and half tea I was powered up for the show. The place had great friendly service and I will be back. As I sat there in my chair I was already thinking about what I was getting ready to experience. The kind lady gave me a “go-cup” of iced tea to sip on and head down the road about a mile to the venue for the evening. “The Harvester” is a fabulous venue that has only improved over time. As I drove in I saw a massive bus connected to a large gear trailer parked right on the street. I was early as is my custom but yet the cars were pouring in from all over. This show had been sold out for months and people were driving from hours away to see it. I took the last parking place in the adjacent parking lot and sat there for a few minutes. Soon I was headed over to the door where a large line of folks were already lining up. There were two gas patio heaters outside to keep us warm. As I stood there taking in the scenery on the sidewalk I spoke to some people I had just met. I smiled and said “This crowd looks like they are here for a AARP convention!” A couple of the guys laughed in agreement and the youngest member of the group said ‘Yeah I think I am the youngest person here!” Soon the door promptly opened and a nice man handed me a gold wristband after seeing my ticket. I headed in avoiding the $55 t-shirt booth knowing my resistance would be low if I even looked. I still need to lower my t-shirt count after donating thirty-six bins of t-shirts last year to charity. That is a real count. I am sure the flooring in my attic thanks me for the weight relief. Let’s talk about the show.
I appreciate the prompt schedules. This place and this band started perfectly on time. The volunteer staff are helpful and nice folks. The trio walked on stage promptly at 8:00 to thunderous applause of the now capacity crowd. These guys are Texas music legends. Without getting into a history lesson I can tell you even with all my years of live music experience I was excited about what I was getting ready to see. I have seen all these guys play for years with many bands. When you have the former drummer for Stevie Ray Vaughn who also played on the Jimi Hendrix Experience Tours and tons of other things, Chris “The Whipper” Layton on stage that alone gets my attention. I have lost count of how many times I have seen him but I still like to hear him play. Mike Flanigin https://www.mikeflanigin.com/about is another blues legend who can play a Hammond B3 organ like few can. He is also incredible on bass guitar playing the likes of ZZ Top riffs on classic songs.
Then the master of cool on a guitar walks on the stage from a few feet away and a smile comes on my face. Yeah this is going to rock!
The band walked out and cranked through some of the ZZ Top classics in very short order. As the songs were passing by it was almost like the set list went into a different feel. Billy mentioned he is working on a new album of music and the band promptly cranked out the unreleased “Brown Paper Bag.” This one sounds like a relative of a ZZ Top classic and was truly cool to see someone in this age group cranking out new material and rocking like a twenty year old on stage. This was the part of the set I really enjoyed.
Suddenly I felt like I was very young again and hearing songs off the first two ZZ Top alums from the early 1970’s. I was living in Mississippi when this music was released and heard all these tracks during that decade over and over. I still have the albums, vinyl represses, and even the CDs of these albums at this point. ZZ Top’s “First Album” was released in 1971. I can still remember spinning that blue “London” label on the turntable all those years ago as I recorded a high fidelity “metal” cassette that played over and over in my car. I was not even a teenager when the first album was released but my teen years were full of listening to these tracks in these two albums. I know most of the words to all the songs even now so it is fun to watch them on a stage from the guy who wrote them in 2026.
I have seen ZZ Top many times but some of the tracks I heard last night I had never experienced live. When Billy starting playing “Brown Sugar” I could not believe I was hearing it live. I really enjoyed Billy telling his story of his friendship with Jimi Hendrix. He followed that with “Foxy Lady.” “Thunderbird” was incredible and the guitar work was intense.
One of my favorite tracks on ‘Rio Grande Mud” is “Francine.” I really did not expect him to play that but I just took it all in as he cranked it out. What a great track but then there was “Blue Jean Blues.” Oh yeah that was so good. Billy can play the blues.
The show was over after ninety minutes of non-stop intensity from three masters on stage. I felt so fortunate to be so close to a stage getting my soul recharged with some fine live music. As I walked out of the venue and towards my car I was still thinking about what I would listen to on the way home down those dark twisty mountain roads. I told my car to play “Rio Grande Mud.” I listened to the entire album and then went on as I told my car to play some other tracks I wanted to hear. Soon I was home and I was still smiling. Those boys should be proud of their talent and hard work. I woke up this morning having my espresso to clear my head and told my Echo Show in the kitchen to play “Nasty Dogs and Funky Kings” not once but twice. Yeah they played that last night and they rocked it. I really enjoyed this show. It was awesome.
See ya down the road.