It’s been 35 years since ZZ Top’s last performance in New Zealand.
That changes next February when the ‘Heroes of the State of Texas’ headline the Gibbston Summer Concert, part of Greenstone Entertainment’s Summer Concert Tour.
Synonymous with beards, hot rod cars and spinning guitars, ZZ Top’s famous for their mix of rock, blues and boogie, with albums like Eliminator and Afterburner which, between them, spent more than two years on the NZ charts.
They’ve sold hundreds of millions of records over their career, have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Keith Richards, and are an iconic part of rock culture.
The band’s line-up of Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill and Frank Beard — who is, ironically, clean-shaven — remained intact for more than 50 years till Hill’s death, a year ago today.
He temporarily left a tour earlier last year, with Elwood Francis stepping in to the bass breach, a role he’s now been given permanently.
ZZ Top’s planning to bring their big hits to Gibbston, along with some of their mates.
Ten years after their last performance here, Pat Benetar and Neil Giraldo are returning to hit us with their best shot.
Fellow Rock and Roll Hall of Famers, who’ve sold more than 30 million records world-wide and won four consecutive Grammy awards, they’ve had at least 14 singles reach the NZ top 50 charts over the past 43 years, including Heartbreaker, Love is a Battlefield and We
Belong.
Music of the ’90s will be repped by the Stone Temple Pilots — lead singer Jeff Gutt’s bound to get the crowd going with hits like Vaseline, Interstate Love Song and Plush, all of which also made the NZ single charts, while Aussie band The Angels, originally scheduled to perform at this year’s cancelled summer gig, will finally take the stage at Gibbston.
Greenstone CEO Amanda Calvert says it’s been a ‘‘tough couple of years for everyone’’, but they can’t wait to bring back live entertainment.
Queenstown’s the last in a three-stop tour — the series starts in Taupo on February 4 and Whitianga the following day, before it finishes in Queenstown on February 11.
General tickets go on sale August 15, with a limited number of local tickets on sale then from Gibbston Valley Winery, and Queenstown and Wānaka’s iSITEs.
