Well, the tour’s over, folks, and if you didn’t get to catch any of the shows on ZZ Top’s Elevation tour, then you really missed out. Ending their months-long trek across the country in Biloxi, Mississippi – where their “My Head’s In Mississippi” could be declared the state song, judged by the reaction of the crowd – they roasted and toasted us with rock, blues, and a little bit of electrifying country.
For some reason, they just grow better musicians in Texas, and Billy Gibbons, Frank Beard, and the late Dusty Hill were among the elite who gave the state’s music its legendary status. Their third album, 1973’s Tres Hombres, skyrocketed them into the Top Ten atmosphere with “La Grange” and the double-decker “Waitin’ For The Bus/Jesus Just Left Chicago.” From there, they just kept getting bigger and better.
Fifty-plus years, fifteen studio albums, a Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame induction (in 2004), and thousands of sold-out concerts have marinated this little ole band from Texas into some good old prime rib fresh off the grill. You just can’t help but moan when it hits the spot. It’s also why they sound so damn good after all these years, and attending one of their shows in 2025 is still food for the soul.
“The chances one takes when hitting the road to see what this music thing might hold is a somewhat foreboding risk,” Gibbons once told me during a 2021 interview for Glide. “Then again, glad we took it!” And so was each member of the sold-out crowd on Saturday, November 22, 2025, at the IP Casino’s Studio A. From the opening licks of “Got Me Under Pressure” to the final notes of “La Grange,” when the bubbles flew through the room, it was one blistering hit after another, pulled off by three men who know what the hell they are doing.
Here’s an example: after the show, talking to some fans in attendance, a young woman said it was her first ZZ Top live concert. She had brought her father. Her opinion? She called this “Real music, not like what you hear today.” She also wanted me to know that her four-year-old son was obsessed with “Sharp Dressed Man.” Bringing the next generation up right, I say.
Although this was the same setlist from back in April 2024 when they played with Lynyrd Skynyrd here in Biloxi, it never showed signs of redundancy. The guitars were humming, Beard’s drumming was on point and sounding better than ever, and Elwood Francis on bass was an excellent foil to Gibbons’ Good Reverend. The first time you see Francis is when he lugs out his infamous big ass bass (the 15-string High Selecta), which looks like a bugger to hold much less play, for “Got Me Under Pressure,” before switching to a variety of basses throughout the set, including his red double neck for “Just Got Paid,” the “fuzzy” monsters for “Legs,” and finally a black bass with a screen of moving pictures that mirrored Gibbons’ guitar for the encore of “Brown Sugar,” “Tube Snake Boogie” and “La Grange.”
Prior to “My Head’s In Mississippi,” a man ran up to the stage holding out an album to Gibbons. Ever the showman, he looked at it and asked, “I guess you want us to sign it.” After each member put his John Hancock to it, Gibbons held it out, “You didn’t have to get this for us,” and mocked walking off with it. It was a great exchange between the audience and the band that makes going to any concert a once-in-a-lifetime experience, even if you’ve seen the band a hundred times. “Just for that, let me play a little guitar for you,” going into a red-hot intro. “Don’t get too excited,” Gibbons said. “We’re just making this shit up.”
Introducing the Merle Travis song, “Sixteen Tons,” Gibbons told a story about Jeff Beck before lighting into one of the best songs of the night. Although a country classic, ZZ Top gave it a new flavor, mashing it with deep blues, heavy rock, and a guitar solo to chill the bones. And on “Pearl Necklace” and “Just Got Paid,” you could feel Beard’s drumming in your arteries. The latter song showcased Gibbons on slide, and his solos on “Paid,” “Sixteen Tons,” “I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide,” “Mississippi,” and “Brown Sugar” were to die for.
Of course, the crowd loves a good hit song, and when the trio pulled out “Sharp Dressed Man,” “Legs,” and “La Grange,” they went into superfan mode – singing, dancing, and one woman even trying to crawl onstage! It’s all part and parcel to a career of well-loved tunes cranked out like a well-oiled machine. And nobody does it better than ZZ Top.
Before I close this out, speaking of fans, let me mention another young lady I ran into. She was eighty-eight years old, had a wheelchair, but was sitting in a seat across the aisle from me, had married a musician, her son was a musician, and she still loved to go to concerts. Let’s all hope we can be this lady. Long live rock & roll.
SETLIST: Got Me Under Pressure, I Thank You, Waitin’ For The Bus, Jesus Just Left Chicago, Gimme All Your Lovin’, Pearl Necklace, I’m Bad I’m Nationwide, I Gotsta Get Paid, My Head’s In Mississippi, Sixteen Tons, Just Got Paid, Sharp Dressed Man, Legs ENCORE: Brown Sugar, Tube Snake Boogie, La Grange.
One Response
Outstanding article and pics!