From The Times-Picayune:

Friday’s set at the Acura Stage renewed my appreciation of the lil’ ol’ band from Texas.

Maybe it was the sight of my 67-year-old mother-in-law, born in Dallas and raised in Fort Worth, standing in a puddle wearing her daughter’s Tevas, gleefully dancing the “north Texas push” during “Legs.”

Or maybe ZZ Top’s brand of boogie is best enjoyed in a muddy field, under steel gray skies, when the fact that they performed at all was something of a minor miracle.

Years ago, a cigarette company sponsored a series of semi-private concerts that, by law, could not be advertised. Admission was via “points” earned from buying smokes.

Predictably, attendance was dismal. I saw progressive country band the Mavericks, then at the height of their fame, with 10 other people in Slidell. At Tipitina’s, Cheap Trick invited the sparse crowd to join in onstage.

I expected comparably small crowds at Jazzfest following Friday’s mid-afternoon monsoon. Sure enough, only a few dozen diehards greeted Paulette Wright & Volume of Praise at the Gospel Tent.

But the Blues Tent was nearly full. And lo and behold, thousands of rockers ringed the mini-lakes that pooled in front of the Acura Stage for ZZ Top.

Lesson of the day: Never underestimate the fortitude and show-must-go-on determination of Jazzfest staffers.

And if you open the gates, they will come.

When ZZ Top last performed at the UNO Lakefront Arena in June 2003, I was less than impressed. It felt like a rote recital, with the amplifiers cranked to 11.

But Friday’s set at the Acura Stage renewed my appreciation of the lil’ ol’ band from Texas.

Maybe it was the sight of my 67-year-old mother-in-law, born in Dallas and raised in Fort Worth, standing in a puddle wearing her daughter’s Tevas, gleefully dancing the “north Texas push” during “Legs.”

Or maybe ZZ Top’s brand of boogie is best enjoyed in a muddy field, under steel gray skies, when the fact that they performed at all was something of a minor miracle.

Rail-thin guitarist Billy Gibbons and stout bassist Dusty Hill wore matching black gamblers’ jackets studded with sequins. Neither broke a sweat.

Gibbons’ nonchalance is either the ultra-cool demeanor of a man in total command of his craft, or a guy on autopilot. At UNO, I assumed it was the latter.

But this time, it felt more like the former. Especially when, in mid-solo, Gibbons’ guitar tech lit the cigar poking out of his boss’s beard, and Gibbons didn’t miss a lick.

They managed to kick some life into old songs. “Jesus Just Left Chicago” fell away to drummer Frank Beard’s unflappable pulse, as Gibbons barked ad-libs. The band dirtied up the mediocre latter-day anthem “Pincushion.” “Pearl Necklace” received a beneficial makeover.

Gibbons might have glanced over his shoulder and noticed Tony Joe White carving up the Blues Tent with scary hoodoo blues guitar. Whatever his inspiration, Gibbons absolutely crushed the slide guitar in “Just Got Paid.” He chiseled hearty slow blues solos as Hill took a turn on the microphone. “Under Pressure” rocked. So did “Gimme All Your Lovin’.” The trio tore into the final “Tush” as if playing it for only the 100th time, not the 2,000th.

As the soggy crowd streamed toward the exits, the fatigue written across the faces of two Jazzfest staffers spoke to the day’s challenges. But they perked up when they encountered a krewe of “Jazzfest triathletes” in green T-shirts.

As per their custom, the “triathletes” had run around the entire Fair Grounds track, fortified by an adult beverage or six. At the conclusion of the Gangbe Brass Band at the Jazz & Heritage Stage, they “sacrificed” and devoured a watermelon.

Then they marched toward the Sauvage Street exit, bound for a swim across Bayou St. John.

Even with all the water at Jazzfest yesterday, some folks still wanted more.

by Bob Golfen for The Arizona Republic

Billy Gibbons’ world looks like a West Texas pawnshop with a gleaming black Caddy parked at the curb and Gibbons inside searching for yet another piece of guitar history.

Hot cars and cool guitars, these are the things that stroke Gibbons’ famous beard when he’s not in the recording studio or out on the circuit as the front man for ZZ Top.

Like his renowned collection of unique and vintage guitars, Gibbons’ stable of cars and bikes was assembled with a connoisseur’s eye for the wickedly fast and sleek. Primo hot rods, handmade custom cars, radical motorcycles and a Chevy low rider named Slampala, they’re all drivers, Gibbons said, meant to be taken out on the highway.

“Nothing gives me more pleasure than the opportunity to give one of them a spin,” Gibbons said. “Like any automobile, they like to be taken out and have their muscles flexed.”

Such as the famed Cadzzilla, an implausibly low, long and lush 1948 custom Cadillac that Gibbons helped design and create, the centerpiece of his collection. The way Billy tells it, Cadzzilla was born on a cocktail napkin in a Mexican border cantina during a late-night drinking bout with a Cadillac stylist and a hot-rod builder.

Gibbons was relaxing last week in Santa Fe between shows on ZZ Top’s current tour when he sat down to chat in his slow, deep Texas drawl about the road-going loves of his life. The band stops in Phoenix today, when the trio of Gibbons, Dusty Hill and Frank Beard performs at Dodge Theatre.

“I love that place,” Gibbons said about the Valley. “I love making the scene at Barrett-Jackson (Collector Car Auction).”

His rich and colorful life with his early bands, 38 years with ZZ Top, fabulous custom cars, a zillion guitars and, of course, beautiful women, is chronicled in Billy F. Gibbons: Rock + Roll Gearhead, (2007, Motorbooks International, $29.95, hardcover).

That a publishing company best known for its automotive books and repair guides should tackle Gibbons’ pop-culture biography attests to the guitar man’s stature in the custom-car universe.

“Am I a gearhead? Without a doubt,” Gibbons said. “In fact, my mom said my first three words were Ford, Chevy and Cadillac.”

In the book, Gibbons talks about the early “rat rods” that he and his friends built out of whatever came their way. But after ZZ Top started to click with rock fans, and when music videos started to change the landscape, Gibbons found the means to combine his greatest enthusiasms.

It started out with a ZZ Top-themed 1933 Ford coupe, chopped and lowered, painted bright red and emblazoned with stylized ZZ Top logos on its side panels. That was the Eliminator Coupe, which found its way onto the band’s album covers and into its videos.

“That was the little red coupe that accompanied us to the new-found world, one more addition to sunglasses, cowboy hats and beards,” Gibbons said.

Some others:

• Kopperhead, a what-if ‘50 Ford hot rod with a chopped roof and cut down into a three-window coupe, a design that went out of production in the 1930s.

“This is an unbelievable phantom car, one that could have been put in production,” Gibbons said. “Three on the tree, a ‘57 T-bird engine. And all the fancy stuff, all the jewelry from that era.”

The custom, vintage-looking steering wheel was made by a Phoenix steering-wheel maker, JB Donaldson, who also built most of the other wheels on Gibbons’ cars.

• Hogzzilla, a custom Harley-Davidson built as a motorcycle version of Cadzzilla.

• The Deuce, a genuine period hot rod just as it was built from a 1932 Ford roadster in the late 1940s. It’s powered by a rare French-made Ford flathead V-8. A barn find that was freshened by California rod builder Rudy Rodriguez, it’s is a rare piece of hot-rod history.

The list goes on, although Gibbons won’t reveal how many cars and trucks are in his stable, he said, because “my accountant would regain his frown.”

“He says to me, ‘Can’t I get it into your head that you can’t drive more than one at a time?’ ” Gibbons said with a chuckle. “Well, one is not enough, and 100 are not too many.”

So does that make Billy a gearhead?

Oh, yeah.

Angel San Juan for kfdm.com

The first ZZ Top show was held in Beaumont in 1970, booked by legendary radio announcer Al Caldwell.

Now 37 years later, ZZ Top returned, thanks to Al Caldwell’s son.

Promoters Steve Caldwell and Brent Coon brought back the rock trio to the area for a concert Saturday night at the Ford Park amphitheater.

The group attracted a record-breaking crowd last time they performed at the Ford Pavillion.
Saturday afternoon, ZZ Top and Al Caldwell were honored with commemorative stars on the Southeast Texas Walk Of Fame at Ford Park.

They will join other hometown stars like Janis Joplin, George Jones, and Tracy Byrd on the walkway, but ZZ Top is the first band to receive a star.

Click HERE to see a video of the Ceremony.

By Tommy Mann Jr. for The Orange Leader

The Texas rock trio ZZ Top will perform in concert Saturday at Ford Pavilion in Beaumont for the second time in three years.

The band holds the record for the largest attendance total for a paid concert in the Golden Triangle; more than 14,000 people turned out for the band’s 2004 performance.

However, it wasn’t always glitz, glamour and glory for this “Little ol’ band from Texas.” The trio had to start out just like any other band does, performing shows on the local and regional tour circuit.

This included a performance in 1971 at the Little Cypress-Mauriceville High School prom, which was the first prom of the newly combined school district.

“I was a sophomore that year they played at our school,” said Nancy (Dunn) Melancon. “I just remember not being very impressed with their music back then. We left before they finished playing.”

Melancon said the ZZ Top performance at the Jack Tar House was her first actual live concert experience and remembers the music being very loud.

“It was several years later, after the band had become pretty popular, when I realized it was the same group which had played our prom,” she said laughing. “We just couldn’t believe it was really them and how popular they had become.”

Kent Crow was a graduate from the first class of seniors at LC-M High School.

“We signed a contract with them to play our prom early in the school year, something like October, because that is how you had to do it back then,” Crow said. “They had just released their first album, and they had a song on the radio. Anyway, the band tried to get out of the contract because they were making more money at that time than what was agreed to on the contract, but we held them to the contract and they played the show.”

Crow said it was funny how many people were trying to attend the prom that night in 1971.

“People were actually crashing our prom,” he said. “People were trying to sneak in anyway they could just to see these guys perform. It was really funny.”

In 1985, Crow had another special moment with ZZ Top. He was a photographer and happened to be at the concert the band performed in Lake Charles, La.

Crow made a point to bring his 1971 year book with him in hopes of meeting the band and getting them to sign the annual.

“I was friends with the head of security at that show and he said he would see what he could do for me,” Crow said. “I ended up showing the picture to the band’s security guy and he couldn’t believe it, so he took me straight back to the band.”

Once backstage, Crow was able to show the band members the annual with the photo had them autograph the book and even managed to take another picture with ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons while he was looking at the photo in the year book.

“I made a really large picture out of that for myself,” Crow said. “It was just something you’ll always remember.”

Tickets for Saturday’s concert are still available at all Ticketmaster outlets, including the Ford Park box office, and online for $75, $55 and $35.

Los Lonely Boys and Cross Canadian Ragweed will perform with ZZ Top at the show.

“Monday night in Wichita Falls was our first time to ever play with ZZ Top,” Jojo Garza, bassist for Los Lonely Boys, said in a telephone interview. “They are one of the bands we have always dreamed of sharing the stage with. They have been around a long time, and they still got it. They put on a dynamite show.”

Cody Canada, singer and guitarist for Cross Canadian Ragweed, said he and his band have performed with ZZ Top numerous times, including a 25-date tour a few years ago.

“We did an entire summer with them about three years ago,” Canada said in a telephone interview. “I don’t know how cool it was for them, but it was really cool for us.”

Canada said the first time his group ever performed with ZZ Top was at the last concert before the closing of the Astrodome.

“My first memory of those guys is backstage at the Astrodome,” Canada said. “Me and the rest of the guys in the band were sitting there talking when we heard a “clinking” sound coming down the hall. I stuck my head out of the dressing room and it was the ZZ Top guys walking down the hall in full stage outfit. The clinking sound I had heard was their conchos they were wearing.”

Canada said his older sister attended the concert in Wichita Falls on Monday and called him afterwards to let him know about the show.

“She saw those guys in the late ‘70s in concert, and hasn’t seen them since then,” he said. They are one of her favorite bands of all time. She said she nearly cried when they walked on stage. They are really great guys and still awesome at what they do.”

By Lana Sweeten-Shults/Times Record News

Bottomzz up to ZZ Top, indeed.

Torin Halsey/ Times Record News
click here for more pictures

ZZ Top, those consummate showmen, never fail to pop a top on a little Texas style, and they did it in prime fashion Sunday night at Kay Yeager Coliseum with Los Lonely Boys for a two-fer Texas evening.

San Angelo’s Los Lonely Boys is everything a Texas band should be - some conjunto, a smidgen of blues, Stevie Ray, Santana, doo-wop, piercing rock guitar and ear-pleasing melody. Bassist Jojo Garza was right when he called the trio’s music in a past Times Record News interview a big, fat, “musical burrito.”

Big, fat musical burrito is right.

The guys - that’s Jojo and la familia, brother Henry on guitar and other brother Ringo on drums - don’t want for musicianship. The brothers, who honed their chops performing with their dad for a time, have fused all the best that’s Texas music, taking something from here and another thing from there for their musical menudo, and they deliver it with impeccably harmonized vocals, sizzling guitar playing that’s crisp and then raunchy when it wants to be, and unwavering rhythm.

The guys opened their set with “Oye Mamacita” and its Santana-ish flavor, following that up with accordion-driven “Texican Style” and the very Texas smitten-by-love song “I Never Met A Woman.”

How these guys can make each song sound different in style, yet tie everything together and make that song still sound like a distinctive Los Lonely Boys tune is a wonder.

Of course, the trio wrapped up the set with their big hit, “Heaven,” and those golden melodic opening guitar chords. Crowd of 4,000-ish went wild. Standing ovation. ‘Nuff said.

As for ZZ Top, the guys create a musical burrito of their own. The trailblazers fused Texas’ sounds, namely blues and rock, and made it their own about three decades before Los Lonely Boys hit the scene.

This time around, the Texas trio - that’s Texas terror twins Billy Gibbons on guitar and Dusty Hill on bass, and beardless Frank Beard on drums - delivered a showier, raZZlier, daZZlier show at the coliseum Sunday night.

The sharp-dressed men not only threw on the boots and glittery jackets, peppered with cool-guy, minimalist choreography, but they brought along neon-lit mic stands and a light and fog show, too. Talk about style. I mean, even the mic stands are cool at a ZZ Top show.

But, of course, what’s style without substance, and ZZ Top has all that, undoubtedly,

They delivered a lot of their hits (though they couldn’t get to all of them), from “I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide,” to “Cheap Sunglasses,” “Sharp-Dressed Man,” “Pearl Necklace,” “Got Me Under Pressure” and “Gimme All Your Lovin’.’ ”

The zip in a Top show is that the guys also don’t want for hits. They have plenty of ‘em and deliver ‘em - with style, of course, and showmanship.

More importantly, they deliver ‘em with right-on musicianship, too. The trio, like the Los Lonely Boys, manage to barrage the stage with more sound than some bands twice their size. Unbelievable. Their concert, in fact, was probably louder than past nu-metal shows that have rocked the coliseum.

And, of course, iconic Texas guitarist Gibbons just wails, with stellar rhythms from Beard and Hill.

If you missed ZZ, you missed a good one. With luck, they’ll bring all that raZZlin’ and daZZlin’ back to the coliseum again.

From the Houstonist.com

Houstonist joined over 70,000 rodeo fans and rock music lovers in Reliant Stadium last night for the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo finale. This wasn’t our first Houston Rodeo, but it was the first time Houstonist had attended with a rodeo nut. We were skeptical about arriving at 10:45 AM on a day when the main events did not commence until 3:45 PM. How were we to occupy our time until the stadium opened?

Team Houstonist decided that all decisions should be made on full stomachs so we headed to the food court. There were few breakfast choices as most vendors were still shuttered when we arrived. We opted for sausage-on-a-stick after passing up the turkey legs and roasted corn. Nothing like a nice tasty skewer of random swine parts and a Dr. Pepper to get the day rolling. In fact, please let us know if you know a place we can meat on a stick during normal non-carnival type breakfast hours.

The hours separating us from the evening events melted away after breakfast. Our group occupied several hours sorting through the daylight events and vendors spread out around Reliant Park and surrounding facilities. Want to watch a child wrangle a bovine or bird? No worries; head to one of the livestock shows, which are more interesting than you first think. Need some soap that looks like a geode? How about a bridle for your horse, spouse or child? Just head into the fray of the vendor booths surrounding the central show corral. Ditch your City Slicker duds and get your Urban Cowboy on before the evening entertainment while you’re at it. Complete your cowboy image with a horse trailer slash apartment. We’re still not quite sure how broke country folk (according to the country songs at least) can afford fancy digs like that, but most of the ones we saw were sold - some to the tune of $116,000 and above. And to think that we once thought the only thing entertaining at the rodeo besides the evening events was the ability to gawk at the wide variety of mullets, fake boobs and tight jeans on display.

The evening events kicked off with the PRCA Xtreme Bulls before home boys ZZ Top took the stage. Houstonist was not sure what to make of “Xtreme Bulls” but after last night all shadows of uncertainty were removed.
Those kids are nuts. 2,200 pounds of bull versus 155 pounds of teenager. The beasts quickly whittled down the field of 40 riders to a dozen riders in the final round. Luke Haught from Weatherford, TX seemed to take the most abuse from a bovine in the form of horns to the backside and face. In the end, Chance Smart of Philadelphia, Mississippi took home the Rodeo Houston Xtreme Bull title and over $21,000 in prize money.

Rock fans got paid as ZZ Top took the stage and let fly with Ring of Fire. The rock and roll bluesmen let it be known that they still had A-game stuff behind their cheap sunglasses 38 years into their hall of fame career. The set list was stacked with fan favorites: Pearl Necklace, I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide, Legs, Sharp Dressed Man, Tush, La Grange and Just Got Paid.

We’re not sure if we’ll opt for the Chute Seats next year. But you can bet your prize winning turkey (even if it’s not valued at $175,000) that we’ll be there for more meat-cicles, wagon races and bull riding.

If your definition of rock ‘n roll is massive four-on-the-floor hits delivered by larger-than-life artists through stacks of high-decibel amps, then this is your destination…this is “where rock lives.”

The first annual ROCK ON THE RANGE is set for Saturday, May 19 at Ohio’s Columbus Crew Stadium. Presented by Right Arm Entertainment and AEG LIVE, the heavyweight bill includes ZZ Top, Evanescence and Velvet Revolver, along with a host of platinum-selling artists. General admission tickets, priced at $49.50, go on sale Saturday, March 10 at noon (ET) at www.ticketmaster.com (keyword: “Rock On The Range”) and all Ticketmaster outlets.

The all-star line-up appearing on two stages at Columbus Crew Stadium (One Black and Gold Blvd., Columbus, OH) are such chart-toppers as Hinder, Chevelle, Three Days Grace, Breaking Benjamin, Papa Roach, Buckcherry and Puddle of Mudd, plus up-and-comers The Operator and Black Stone Cherry. Additional bands for the all-day event–which begins at noon–will be announced soon. Mark McCullers, General Manager of Columbus Crew Stadium, is excited about the debut event, noting: “No event like ROCK ON THE RANGE currently exists in the area and it has the potential to fill a tremendous void for outdoor summer concert entertainment in the future.“

“This is a music festival that was not created with trendiness in mind–the only prerequisite at ROCK ON THE RANGE is a passion for great ROCK music and a good time,” states organizer Del Williams. “We chose Columbus as the location for this national event because it’s centrally located. And right there, in the heart of America, is where you’ll find the epicenter of pure, no-strings-attached rock n’ roll.” Joe Litvag of AEG LIVE concurs: “The idea of creating a unique rock festival in the heart of the country embraces AEG LIVE’s overall philosophy of the festival business.”

With over 200 million albums sold between them, the ROCK ON THE RANGE artists know exactly how to make infectious music that appeals to everybody with a pulse. From the classic Texas blues of ZZ Top, to the soaring melodies of Evanescence and the untamed swagger of Velvet Revolver, ROCK ON THE RANGE will deliver the songs that have become the personal soundtrack to millions of true rock fans.

“Simply put, Rock On The Range is where rock lives,” says Williams.

For more information, visit www.rockontherange.com and www.myspace.com/rockontherange.

VH1 Rock Honors will pay tribute to ZZ Top, Genesis, Heart, and Ozzy Osbourne at the second annual ceremony, which will be taped May 12 at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. Highlights will air May 24 on VH1. Read the full press release at prnewswire.com

By JUSTIN HOOKS
SUN HERALD

KARI GOODNOUGH/SUN HERALD
ZZ Top played the Mississippi Coast Coliseum on Wednesday night.
More photos
BILOXI - Plenty of beer drinkers and hell raisers descended on the Mississippi Coast Coliseum Tuesday night for the kickoff of ZZ Top’s 2007 national tour. The band ran the crowd of about 4,000 through a marathon of their best-loved songs, including a 15-minute blues-rock fusion jam of “La Grange.”

The crowd was loud and appreciative for a weeknight, and guitarist Billy Gibbons, drummer Frank Beard and bassist Dusty Hill wasted no time in setting the mood, opening with “Waitin’ For The Bus.” An extended “Jesus Just Left Chicago” followed, before Gibbons addressed the crowd.

“We’ve been (around the world),” he said in his trademark baritone. “But that’s all right, because we’re back in Mississippi. We’re nationwide.”

An obvious segue into “I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide,” the trio’s 1979 classic. Gibbons and Hill toyed with the crowd through the evening, laughing and seeming to enjoy themselves as much as the audience.

“This music is our era,” Gulfport resident Dick Clark said. “That’s one thing the Coast has excelled in over the past 10 years, getting the true rock bands back in here.” His friend Harold Waldrip of St. Martin agreed.

“You’ve got business owners here, bankers here, all kinds,” Waldrip said. “These are the people that grew up with ZZ Top.”

The baby boomers and the Gen Xers were well represented, including one young couple intent on cheering for the band from as many vantage points as possible, several of them closer to the stage than the security guards were comfortable with.

As the night wore on, what was a traditional concert became a full-on jam session. Gibbons laid down an extended guitar solo introduction to “Just Got Paid,” then pounded out extended versions of “Gimme All Your Lovin’,” “Sharp Dressed Man,” “Legs” and “Tush.”

The tour continues through March with dates across the Southeast with opening act The Robert Fortune Band. The Mandeville-based trio held an impressive jam session of heavy blues-rock originals, belying the fact that their combined ages do not even equal Gibbon’s age alone. The Robert Fortune Band has strong ties to South Mississippi and are worth a second look the next time they come through the area.

By PETE TATTERSALL from The Sun Herald

Tradition, and good public relations, dictates that a touring band know a little bit of the local jargon. But credit ZZ Top lead singer and guitarist Billy Gibbons for going that extra mile. And for being completely credible while doing it.

“When we were residing in Memphis, one of the great excursions was to take a leisurely drive down through the Delta, winding up at the Coast. And one of our favorite spots, of course, was Mary Mahoney’s,” Gibbons said in an interview this week with the Sun Herald. “And we got to know them quite intimately. It was a wonderful destination to escape the recording studio for a short while. But we’ve made friends along the way, and to this day we’re still great fans of the state of Mississippi, and of course where that remarkable American art form started, called the blues.”

ZZ Top (Gibbons, Dusty Hill/bass, Frank Beard/drums), who kicks off their national tour Tuesday night at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum, knows a little something about the blues. According to the venerable Web site allmusic.com, “as genuine roots musicians, they have few peers; Gibbons is one of the finest blues guitarists working in the arena rock idiom…while Hill and Beard provide the ultimate rhythm section support. The only rock & roll group that’s out there with its original members still aboard after three decades, ZZ Top’s music is always recognizable, eminently powerful, profoundly soulful, and 100 percent American in derivation…ZZ Top’s support and link to the blues remains as rock solid as the music they play.”

Gibbons, originally from Houston (Hill and Bass, meanwhile, grew up around Dallas), describes ZZ Top’s music as “fast and furious. I would place it properly in the lane of being rock ‘n’ roll with a blues base… .It’s definitely a guitar-driven expression of our interpretation of what we enjoyed learning. And that was the early days of rock ‘n’ roll and blues. And country. And the list goes on.”

The hard-rocking trio, who formed in 1969, have long been famous for their hard-charging music, popular ’80s videos and trademark beards (except, of course, the beardless Frank Beard).

So what’s the story behind those beards, anyway?

“Well, the patented answer is ‘abject laziness.’ We took a break from the road - we had been on the road constantly from the inception of the band in ‘69 all the way to 1976, the great bicentennial year, which allowed us a decision to take a brief break. It started out as a six-week holiday, which became six months,” said Gibbons. “And during that time I made a dash over to Europe to hang out with some friends in England, and Frank made his way down to the Caribbean…while Dusty made his way down to Mexico. I think he was drinking tequila, but he won’t tell. But we all returned having not seen each other, communicating only by telephone, to discover that we had thrown the razor far, far away. And the image of what started off as a disguise became a trademark.”

Gibbons also spoke fondly of The Robert Fortune Band, a New Orleans-based trio of teenagers (ages range from 15-18) opening for ZZ Top Tuesday at the Coliseum. Robert Fortune, 16, a family friend of Gibbons who’s billed as his protege, learned guitar four years ago at the behest of Gibbons.

“I think you’ll find them a fascinating outfit. They’re youngsters. All around 15 going on 50. They play well, and they lay it down,” said Gibbons. “It’s funny because Robert had a bout with a plate glass window, which layed him up for about four months. And he was instructed to take it easy. And he was scratching his head, wondering how he was going to keep himself occupied during the time. And I went down to the corner music store (in New Orleans) and picked up a cheap six string, and I brought it back to the house and laid it on him. And he said, ‘Well, what am I supposed to do with this?’ And I said, ‘Go learn it.’ But sure enough he did.”

So why start the tour in Biloxi? Was it geographically suited to the needs of the tour schedule?

“Well, we love being down South, and Biloxi has always been a favorite spot of the band’s. And we just wanted to get back into the Southern swing of things, with all the good folks in the neighborhood… .Send out the good word. Tell everybody we’re anxiously awaiting our arrival back in the good ‘ole town of Biloxi, in our favorite state of Mississippi.”