I’ve enthused about ZZ Top on this page in issues past and the release of this ‘Then and Now’ type live DVD affords me the ability to roll in the mud once again. By 1980 ZZ Top had well over a decade to hone their live show – and it’s obvious. With only two members (Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill) front of drums at all times, the band realised early on that standing motionless in front of a stationary mic stand would hardly make an enticing live proposition. So we get Dusty leaning in deep, dropping the bass to almost floor level; Dusty and Billy swaying side to side, crab walking around the stage in unison – Cliff Richard and Shadows-style; and both of them wearing singularly awesome beards. It sounds almost quaint. But this small concession to showmanship pushes the music into sharper focus. Fortunately, ZZ Top have practically written the rules for dry, bluesy hard rock – except for that well-deserved if unsatisfactory period of commercial success in the mid-‘80s when they discovered synths and the power of MTV – and Billy Gibbons’ guitar tone has been envied and copied for decades so it’s easy to forget he was the one who invented it. The 1980 concert drawn from the Rockpalast vaults is a treat for the true fan as it focuses wholly, out of necessity, on the early stuff. Fast-forward 28 years and pretty much nothing has changed – Billy’s voice may have dropped an octave or four and the suits are bit nattier but the segue from Waitin’ For The Bus into Jesus Just Left Chicago still delivers chills in its fourth decade. Fashions and genres evolve, rise, fall and get forgotten but through it all ZZ Top have remained a constant. In the absence of a tour this Double Down more than satiates, but it’s not the real deal. I live in hope.
