I went to see ZZ Top do the last concert in the history of the Summit/Compaq Center. Since they are from Houston, and are closing out a Houston arena, I felt like they were going to do something special. Perhaps a longer show, perhaps special guests, perhaps playing more older ZZTop songs than usual. What we got, I feel, was the same show they have been playing every night on this tour. They did dip into some of their older material..."Manic Mechanic", "Jesus Just Left Chicago", "Just Got Paid Today". The performance was sub-par. The version of "Jesus Just Left Chicago" was so Heroin-junkie slow I almost fell asleep. They went on at 10PM and left the stage at 11:30 PM...a friggin' hour and a half. As the lights were down and the crowd was cheering for an encore, we could see from our 5th row floor seats that the roadies were wheeling out another drum set. "Wow" me and my friends thought "who is the special guest going to be? Don Henley perhaps?" The band came on and began to announce the special guest. We were on the edge of our seats to see who it was. Then Billy Gibbons announced..."and now to play drums with us on the next song, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the governor of the State of Texas, Rick Perry!!!" Ugh. Then the funniest thing happened. Perry comes out in black sweats and jogs to the front of the stage and waves at the crowd. Half the crowd looked at each other saying "What the f*ck is this?" while the other half of the crowd booed and saluted Governor Perry with an extended middle finger. Perry played drums on "Sharp Dressed Man". When the song was over, he came back out to the front of the stage to bow and wave. The booing was very loud, and the middle finger salutes were all over the place. With all of the buildup, to have their special musical guest be the governor was a huge letdown. ZZ Top then did "La Grange" and "Tush", thanked everybody for coming to the last concert at the Compaq, went offstage, and the lights came on. The time was 11:50 PM. All in all, it was a very sub-par show for ZZ Top, with nothing special for their hometown fans as they closed out the Compaq Center. I, along with many of my friends who went, felt ripped off. They should have booked Lyle Lovett to close out the Compaq Center. At least he would have more than likely done something special. ZZ Top just went through the motions, and I have alot less respect for them than I did before Saturday night. All ZZ Top did Saturday night was take the money and run, and left many Houstonians scratching their heads. Shameful. I couldn't care less if I ever see them perform live again.
Man, I was planning on going to this but I got stuck at a cocktail party and blew it off. Glad I saved the $$$.
I was listening to Walton and Johnson on KLOL this morning and they said the concert was great. Of course, they probably had free floor seats courtesy of Clear Channel...
I paid face value for 5th row on the floor. The concert was mediocre, at best. It should have been a special night. Instead it was just another night on the tour.
You will do anything to discredit the governor. The lunatic fringe's hate for Perry knows no bounds. The shameful people who showed such disrespect for the state's commander in chief are UNTEXAN.
Man, he could have at least played a harder song than that. Like Cheap Sunglasses or La Grange. Did he really roll out his own kit for that song?
The roadies rolled out the kit just for the one song. It was about half the size of Frank Beard's kit. I don't even think they had Perry's kit miked up, because I could see he was missing a few beats and turnarounds, but the music never wavered. It was enjoyable to hear everyone boo him and see everyone flip him off. What a crock.
The funniest part, besides the booing and the one-finger salutes, was seeing Perry, dressed in black sweats and a black cap, jog to the front of the stage with a big sh*t-eating grin on, thinking the crowd would applaud, when they were actually doing quite the opposite. He looked like a Will Ferrell character from SNL.
Norris: "No, governor, it's not the #1 sign." Perry: "You sure? I still see a lot of single fingers."
The best concert tickets I've ever had are for tonight at the 1894 Grand Opera House in Galveston. First row, center stage.
My sister and brother in law are huge Lyle Lovett fans. Recently, he was performing near them on the East Coast and I asked her if they were going to go. She told me they don't go and see Lyle Lovett anymore. She told me they got spoiled 15-20 years ago by seeing him at Gruene Hall and sitting so close they could "count his nosehairs". Since they can't get those kind of seats anymore, they won't go see him live, but they still purchase his CDs when they come out. You will definitely be able to count nosehairs tonight!!
