It was a fabulous way for Artpark, located in Lewiston, NY to celebrate 40 years as one of the premier concert venues in all of the Buffalo/Niagara area by closing out their summer concert series with that lil’ ole band from Texas, ZZ Top and a band from Canada that is starting to turn some heads, The Sheepdogs.
Rock and Roll Hall of Famers ZZ Top headlined the season ending show and sounded and looked great. There was one small problem though….they played a very short hour and 10 minute set. Let’s leave that to the side and focus on what they did do. The band played 15 songs including 3 songs off of their latest effort “La Futura.”
The band said very little but let their music do the talking instead. “Gimme All Your Lovin’ sounded fresh and guitarist Billy Gibbons was spot on with his guitar rhythms all night long. Bassist Dusty Hill worked in pattern with Gibbons as they did their trademark looks and poses that everyone came to know during their 1980 videos.
Drummer Frank Beard has one of the finest kits you will ever see, which includes two metal skulls over each of the bass drum heads. The band integrated 3 new songs into their set. The first single “I Gotsta Get Paid,” is a typical ZZ top track that has that low tone Gibbons vocal with the hook and melody to go along with it. The only issue is that they didn’t have anyone to play the harmonica, so it had to be fed in.
Gibbons remarked, “This one is about getting high or something,” as he smirked and went into the first few chords of “Flyin’ High.” One of the coolest shots of Hendrix was depicted on the video screen as the guys paid tribute to him by performing their rendition of “Foxy Lady.” They changed the words to “Heads in Mississippi” to “Heads in NY.” They had incorporated a new short film into all the classic videos that were shown throughout the show. It worked very well by giving the old videos an updated look. The band brought out the classic fuzzy guitars for the cut “Legs.”
Again, everything was fine except the length of time. They were still able to fit in over 15 songs in that short of time and it’s always a treat to see a band of this caliber playing in such a beautiful venue like Artpark. We just hope that the thrill will last a little longer next time.
Opening up was The Sheepdogs. A very strong, hour set was provided by The Sheepdogs. Many walked away from their set with a new appreciation for this band that we’ve been pushing since last year. It’s good to see that their hard work is starting to pay off!
Set List:
Got Me Under Pressure
Waitin’ for the Bus
Jesus Just Left Chicago
Pincushion
I Gotsta Get Paid (cover of 25 lighters by DJ DMD)
Flyin’ High
Certified Blues
Foxy Lady
Heads in Mississippi
Chartreuse
Sharp Dressed Man
Legs
Encore 1:
La Grange/Sloppy Drunk Blues (Lucille Bogan cover)
Tush
Encore 2:
Jailhouse Rock (Elvis Presley cover)
We would like to thank Maria Hays for her assistance in helping BackstageAxxess review the show.
