Setlist: Thunderbird, Francine, Waiting for the Bus > Jesus Just Left Chicago, Pin Cushion, I'm Bad I'm Nationwide, Got Me Under Pressure, Future Blues, Rock Me Baby, Cheap Sunglasses, I Need You Tonight, Hey Joe, Party on the Patio, Just Got Paid, Gimme All Your Lovin', Sharp Dressed Man, Legs, Encore: Viva Las Vegas, La Grange > Sloppy Drunk > Bar-B-Que > La Grange, Tush

I first became aware of ZZ Top the way many others my age did: the enormous success of the Eliminator album. In the early days of MTV, ZZ Top ensured their success through a series of creative videos for the singles from this album. It didn't hurt that the album had a lot of good songs or a more contemporary production applied to their Texas blues-rock.

What I didn't know at the time was that it was a stop in a long road. As far as I knew, the band came out of nowhere, were huge, and then made another record (Afterburner) that sounded like the hit but without the songwriting. A few years later and an album with an unfortunate, appropriate title (Recycler) and the band was off my radar.

I was introduced to the band's older work by Phish, who regularly played both "Jesus Just Left Chicago" and "La Grange" in the 1990s. I finally went to the source a few years ago, when I picked up copies of both Eliminator and The Best of ZZ Top from the dollar record bin. Much more recently, I've been picking up the early discography. Although their recent albums get poor reviews, they seemed like the sort of band that probably still brings it live.

That said, I skipped their last couple of tours because I thought they were too pricey. The headlining tour tickets started at around $50 and the tour with Aerosmith was twice that. When I saw they were playing SunFest, it seemed a good opportunity to see them, even though they were playing opposite The Flaming Lips. After all, Lips shows are a bit cheaper. As it happened, Steven Drozd fell ill and the Lips cancelled.

I looked up some recent setlists so I would have an idea how much of the set I would know. The shows from late last year opened with Eliminator's "Got Me Under Pressure," followed with the "Waiting for the Bus"/"Jesus Just Left Chicago" combination that opens 1973's Tres Hombres and then was a mixture of old and newer until the set ending Eliminator singles.

What I didn't know was that the band changes up the setlist by year and this show was their third show of the year. So, I was surprised by the opening song, "Thunderbird," accompanied by a video featuring animated Thunderbird bottles. I was equally surprised, but very excited, to hear the opening riff to "Francine" next. The videos continued, mostly being animated random objects, such as wrenches and wheels.

The set mostly consisted of material from the band's first 14 years, with only two post Eliminator songs: the band's cover of "Viva Las Vegas" and "Pin Cushion" from 1994's Antenna. Fully half of Eliminator showed up in the set, as did a couple of old blues songs and a tribute to Jimi Hendrix, a cover of his version of "Hey Joe." Eventually, the videos shifted to clips from a previous tour mixed with clips from the original music videos, highlighting just exactly how old the band members are.

And in the vein of old bluesmen, ZZ Top haven't lost a step with the passage of time. They have been together for over 40 years, and don't sound at all tired. Instead, they sound confident. They know what their audience wants and they give it to them. I wouldn't have seriously considered going to a ZZ Top concert five years ago, but I'm glad to have seen them. I would recommend their show to any fans of bluesy rock, though given the price tag on some of their tours, it may be best to catch them at a festival.