It’s 1980 and we’re in Essen, Germany, and ZZ Top is playing their
blistering, Texas-soaked boogie blues amalgamations, supporting as their Deguello
album. Filmed for Rockpalast, a German music television show, the video
of this performance was released as part of the Double
Down Live DVD set from 2009. Now there’s the Live
In Germany 1980 CD for those times when hearing the music is all you
need.
Although Billy Gibbons’ guitar is buried in the mix on the first few
tunes, it evens out after the vocally impressive “I Thank You.”
From there, the heavy blues of “Jesus Left For Chicago” finds the
Top playing as mean and low as they get. They continue, heavy and low rumbling,
on the nasty “Precious And Grace” — long on power chords,
short on subtly.
The staccato of both the silly “Manic Mechanic” and “Lowdown
In The Street” show how tight the trio really is. I was more than ready
for the slower “Fool For Your Stockings.” It’s here where
you can understand why Gibbons is considered one of the better lead players
after 40 odd years. A triple shot of “La Grange,” “Sloppy
Drunk” and “Bar-B-Q” takes up a cool eight minutes plus with
all its routing and loud revelry.
“Cheap Sunglasses” is pretty much note perfect to the studio recording
as is “Tush.” the latter might be a tad looser but not to the detriment
of the other 15 tracks. ZZ Top has always been the tightest little blues three-piece
you’ll ever hear as this German audience surely realized way back over
three decades ago. Now, you can too, on Live In Germany 1980.
~ Ralph Greco, Jr.
