ZZ Top and Jeff Beck

August 16, 2014, ZZ Top and Jeff Beck joined forces at The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel Casino in Las Vegas

ZZ Top and Jeff Beck on tour together for the first time and I caught the show in Las Vegas. This tour gives the fans a full Jeff Beck set, followed by a full ZZ Top set, with a finale that includes Beck and the Texas Rockers joining forces for a collaboration each night of the tour. This is not the first live collaboration between the two camps. Gibbons joined Jeff Beck and his band on stage at the 25^th anniversary celebration of the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in 2009 at New York’s Madison Square Garden, where they performed The Jimi Hendrix Experience’s “Foxy Lady” and ZZ Top’s hit “Rough Boy” together. The following year Jeff Beck joined ZZ Top in Lucca, Italy for an extended rendition of the band’s signature piece “La Grange.” This, however, marks the first time Jeff Beck and ZZ Top will have done any sort of extensive touring together.

ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons, speaking on behalf of band mates Dusty Hill and Frank Beard, noted that Beck has long been a source of musical inspiration from the time when Beck played in the Yardbirds, the seminal hard blues-based Britrock band. Gibbons commented, “Ever since experiencing ‘Jeff’s Boogie,’ the prospect of performance with Jeff Beck on the deck brings us into focus with the curator of crunch.”

Likewise, Beck has been an enduring fan of ZZ Top, from even before their ascendance in popularity in the 70s and 80s. He remarked, “Ever since Eliminator I thought it would be great to play with ZZ Top,” and went on to declare Billy Gibbons, “The Professor of Grunge.

Check out my photos of the night and the complete tour schedule below:

ZZ Top and Jeff Beck Tour Dates
8/8 Missoula, MT – Ogren Park
8/9 Woodinville, WA – Chatea Ste. Michelle
8/10 Eugene, OR – Cuthbert Amphitheatre
8/12 Saratoga, CA – The Mountain Winery
8/13 Los Angeles, CA – Greek Amphitheatre
8/15 Murphys, CA – ironstone Amphitheatre
8/16 Las Vegas, NV – The Joint
8/20 Englewood, CO – Fiddlers Green Amphitheatre
8/22 Oklahoma Cit, OK – Zoo Amphitheatre
8/23 Kansas City, MO – Starlight Theater
8/24 Maryland Heights, MO – Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
8/27 Clarkston, MI – DTE Energy Music Theatre
8/28 Highland Park, IL – Ravina
8/31 Mashantucket, CT – MGM Grand Theater @ Foxwoods
9/2 Boston, MA – Blue Hills Bank Pavilion
9/3 Columbia, MD – Merriweather Post Pavilion
9/4 Wantagh, NY – Nikon @ Jones Beach Theater
9/6 Alpharetta, GA – Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
9/7 St. Augustine, FL – St. Augustine Amphitheater
9/12 The Woodlands, TX – Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion