This is my first time seeing ZZ Top but I have read reviews of their shows over the last few years and watched their last couple of live DVDs so had an idea of what to expect. The venue for Bergenfest is pretty cool – in the grounds of a keep on the coast right in the centre of the town.
I can’t give a setlist as I wasn’t taking notes but they opened with Got Me Under Pressure. The usual favourites were played but it was nice to hear less of the 80s stuff and more of the earlier Top. They also played a selection from the latest album La Futura – I Gotsta Get Paid, Flying High and Chartreuse.
Billy pulled a little kid up on stage who had been asking for his pick – he had the kid strum his LP a few times then gave him the pick. After this song (buggered if I can remember what it was) Billy suddenly handed his guitar to his tech Elwood and disappeared off stage. Dusty and Frank didn’t know what was going on and Dusty shuffled around at the side of the stage for a minute or so until Billy came back. Some reviews seem to think that Billy went off to get a pick but that’s wrong – he took a pick from the drum riser when he came back, and lets face it, Elwood would have picks anyway. It was around this time that things took a change – the first half of the show was damn good with good sound and the guys in good form. The second half however had a few clunkers here and there with some off notes by the Rev. The sound seemed a little worse than the first half as well. The second half was still a good show, just not as tight as the first half.
Sound wise it was good to hear Dusty’s bass higher in the mix than usual – I’ve always thought of ZZ Top as a bass led group, regardless of the fancy guitar playing. Saying that, whoever was directing the cameras for the video screens was obviously a huge Dusty fan – he had way more close ups than Billy! Even during Billy’s solos the screens seemed to have Dusty on them! Weird.
Gear wise I really wasn’t paying too much attention but Billy played most of the show on a pinstriped deep red flame-top LP and only changed over to the Live From Darryl’s House SG for one song.
So it was pretty much what I was expecting and I enjoyed the show overall. I’ll certainly go to another gig if they make it over to the UK again, though it looks like their European tour this summer is mostly festivals in Scandinavia.
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