Concert Review: ZZ Top at the Main Street Armory

Rochesterians love their
synchronicity. And no, I’m not talking about the Ice Capades,
I’m going on about ZZ Top, which delivered a primal killer-diller rock ’n’ roll display Friday night at The Main
Street Armory for around 3,000 fans. The band strolled out onto a relatively
sparse stage summa cum loud and immediately launched into three classics: the
band’s version of Sam and Dave’s “Thank You,” “Waitin’
On The Bus,” and “Jesus Just Left Chicago.” (Speaking of Jesus, he had a couple
of his loudmouthed minions out front beating their bibles and warning us about
the lake of fire we would all be bathing in thanks to ZZ Top.) The trio took
the chill out the damp night with rumbling hellfire and a swaggering, laid-back
back beat and that aforementioned synchronicity.
Whether it was a casual leg-wiggle or a fuzzy guitar’s 360, the crowd went
bananas when guitarist Billy Gibbons and bassist Dusty Hill pulled the old soft
shoe a la Hope and Crosby.

Gibbons’ guitar tone was thick and swampy as he sung in a
lowdown growl so husky it could have been pulled by a dog sled. A little trivia
for you tone hounds: Gibbons plays on .07 gauge strings, even though they sound
big enough to be suspension-bridge cables. It seemed to me there were too many
drums for the simple rhythm and swing the band churns out, even on thundering
classics like “Heard it On The X.” The band dug generously into its lengthy
catalogue, including its popular 80’s electronic-ified
stuff like “Legs” and “Sharp-Dressed Man,” which frankly I dig the least.
Thankfully, the Texas trio’s new album “La Futura”
leans back into that comfy boogie we all like wallowing in, just like a big ol’ lake-of-fire bubblebath.

Tommy Brunett opened the
show and knocked out an immaculate infield homer with a brief set of honkified rock ’n’ tonk. The
crowd was receptive and clearly drove the band (now with guitar meister Mike Gladstone upping the six-string ante) into an
immediate, full-set crescendo. Good on ya, Tommy.

Fellow wordsmith, saxophonist, and dark soul Charles Benoit
brought his rocksteady pals in Some Ska Band to do just that at Tala
Vera Saturday night. The joint was saturated and sardined
to capacity as the band put its fingerprints on Two-Tone and Studio One
classics from the likes of Toots and the English Beat. The band is loose in its
newness, but comfortable in its knowledge and obvious love of ska, even though the style may have its own horn-filled fire
lake.