Jeff Beck & ZZ Top embark on US tour in August
This August will see long time music legends and mutual admirers, ZZ Top and Jeff Beck on tour together for the first time. The tour launches in Missoula, MT on August 8 and will run for five weeks with stops in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Denver, Detroit, Boston and NYC. The shows will offer fans a full Jeff Beck set, followed by a full ZZ Top set, with a finale that joins the English fret master with the Texas rockers for a collaboration.
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 said, "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".
This tour is not the first live collaboration between the two. Gibbons joined Jeff Beck and his band on stage at the 25th 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" (on video). This however marks the first time Jeff Beck and ZZ Top will have done an extensive tour together.
Jeff Beck with ZZ Top tour dates:
August 08 - Ogren Park - Missoula, MT
August 09 - Chateau Ste. Michelle - Woodinville, WA
August 10 - Cuthbert Amphitheatre - Eugene, OR
August 12 - The Mountain Winery - Saratoga, CA
August 13 - Greek Amphitheatre - Los Angeles, CA
August 15 - Ironstone Amphitheatre - Murphys, CA
August 16 - The Joint - Las Vegas, NV
August 20 - Fiddlers Green Amphitheatre - Englewood, CO
August 22 - Zoo Amphitheatre - Oklahoma City, OK
August 23 - Starlight Theater - Kansas City, MO
August 24 - Verizon Wireless Amphitheater - Maryland Heights, MO
August 27 - DTE Energy Music Theatre - Clarkston, MI
August 28 - Ravinia - Highland Park, IL
August 31 - MGM Grand Theater @ Foxwoods - Mashantucket, CT
September 02 - Blue Hills Bank Pavilion - Boston, MA
September 03 - Merriweather Post Pavilion - Columbia, MD
September 04 - Nikon @ Jones Beach Theater - Wantagh, NY
September 06 - Verizon Wireless Amphitheater - Alpharetta, GA
September 07 - St. Augustine Amphitheater - St. Augustine, FL
September 12 - Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion - The Woodlands, TX