ZZ Top, Rival Sons, Those Damn Crows, London 2024, Review by Dawn Osborne

Dusty Hill might be gone, but ZZ Top are determined to have fun while preserving the integrity of the ZZ Top legacy. Wembley is heaving tonight with people wanting in.

Headlining various small festivals has prepared Those Damn Crows well for tonight at Wembley supporting ZZ Top. They’ve been quietly working hard, building their catalogue and notching up stage hours, and they look pleased as punch to be opening proceedings tonight.  Shane Greenhall stands on the monitor to better see the crowd, most of whom are already in their seats, a tribute to the reputation the band has built up. Some Welsh flags in the audience put beyond doubt that this band also bring their own audience. Shane is chatty and engaging with the crowd, pointing at people in the family and friends section who have come in full ZZ Top costume complete with beards and blow up guitars.

For the Crows its a short set of only six songs, but showcasing brilliant songs like ‘Who Did It’ and attacking the task in hand with gusto, the band have more than enough time to make an impression tonight. After an energetic start with three tracks for the photographers, the piano version of ‘Blink Of An Eye’ helped break up the set and make it seem longer. In final anthem ‘Rock n Roll Ain’t Dead’ Shane ran up to the first seats on the right containing media and friends and family and ran along them sending photographers and their camera bags flying: security couldn’t keep up with him.

Those Damn Crows seem heavier to me tonight, smashing it, and with such great songs bringing both the melodic earworms, and a confident accomplished performance, the band acquitted themselves well. Men on fire indeed.

Rival Sons also majestically filled the stage with their well delivered classic vintage rock. They too have a short set, only seven songs, but also start and finish strong, and put a lot into the visual side of the performance meaning it feels like a very full set. Guitarist Scott Holiday cuts a striking figure in black fedora and pointy boots and leopard print shirt: he has all the moves to catch the eye.

Tonight many of the band’s songs reminded me of Led Zeppelin and singer Jay Bucharan’s appearance is redolent of the ultimate cock rock frontman Robert Plant with ample golden curls and tight trousers that leave nothing to the imagination. Holding his tambourine up like an Aztec priest with a sun disc, and wearing a vintage three piece 70s suit in a salmon pink suit, feeling comfortable enough to go barefoot, he provides an unforgettable visual, so important to stick out in a crowed classic rock market while bringing the goods musically as a given.

ZZ Top have not forgotten either that they are here to entertain. The loss of bassist Dusty Hill has no doubt been painful and there’s no sign of ‘Tush’ that he used to sing, but they are determined to plough on with humour making the best of things.

While Billy Gibbons and Frank Beard look very much the way they always have, the appearance of Elwood Francis, Dusty Hill’s guitar tech and crowned successor with his wildly shaggy wig gives a comedic appearance and coupled with his bright yellow 16 string bass the audience are definitely being asked to share in the joke in a good natured way. The bass is super powerful: when I take a quick leak after finishing photos before going in to review, the bass notes were making the toilet doors shake like blasts from a Paddle Steamer in an old cartoon (although only a few of the strings actually seemed to be getting played if my photos are anything to go by.) In terms of other gimmicks the band have light up ‘ZZ’ logo-ed mike stands, Frank Beard still has his beer keg drum kit and during the gig Billy flips up his guitar to show the large command/expletive ‘BEER’ on the reverse. Another whimsical element is a metal sculpture of a stag made out of various old electronic components which carries Billy Gibbons’ guitar pedals. All of these have a very homemade dad joke vibe fitting well with the bands’ backwoods vibe.

Older tracks like ‘Pearl Necklace’ are the cue for Billy to remind the audience that the band has been going for five decades. This is definitely a PC free zone, the band haven’t changed a bit including their naughty streak!  Although, this is definitely a gig where the Blues Rock does the talking, oral musings mainly confined to showing concern that the audience were having a good time. The band are at pains to stay true to their blue collar Southern Blue Rock roots with songs like ‘I Gotsta Get Paid’ AND ‘Just Got Paid’. With a nod to Jeff Beck they did a cover of infamous country track ‘Sixteen Tons’ (Merle Travis) introduced as the track they played with Beck every night. A cover of ‘I Thank You’ (Sam and Dave) featured early in the set.

The band are obviously known for their big 80s hits and ‘Gimme All Your Lovin’ made an early appearance with synchronised guitar swinging on cue. The audience are singing along enthusiastically to ‘Sharp Dressed Man’ and its familiar riffs. That track and ‘Legs’ were saved for towards the end of the main set. Billy Gibbons’ natural voice is deep and gruff and tapes appear to have been used for keyboards and extra drums and vocals to make ‘Legs’ sound like the record. This is not the case across the set and, selectively, the use of tapes is very successful to give concert goers exactly what they wanted for that particular well known track. Adding to the nostalgia we also got white fluffy square guitars, although they did not spin around.

During the gig the band have been wearing black jackets brightly appliquéd with flowers with Billy’s saying ‘Lord Have Mercy!’ On the back. For the encore of rollicking old Blues and blistering solos  ‘Brown Sugar’, ‘Tube Snake Boogie’ and ‘La Grange’ they come back in bright hot pink jackets similarly embellished but with bright flashing diamanté. Colourful and sparkly they may be, but the square jacket style and plain trousers still look like a boiler suit. You can take the man outta Texas…

I did hear a couple of people say that the set was very short for a band of such heritage, However, nobody said they were bored! Billy Gibbons is a canny Texan and despite his immense talent, is way too down to earth to hog the stage with extensive solos. Tonight delivered the business, to the point, no messing around (alright, just a bit, during the cover jams). A show with flashes of brilliance, refreshingly unpretentious, realistic and humorous, and planned with the audience in mind, no wonder the crowd wanted more.

Dawn Osborne

Watermarked Photos by Dawn Osborne with additional iPhone shots of the white fluffy guitars and the pink encore jackets from Neil Jones.