What’s the next best thing to seeing ZZ Top?
Catching Billy F. Gibbons and the BFG Band, of course.
Gibbons, ZZ Top’s centerpiece and masterful guitarist, launched the side project in 2015, and he’s been known to work a few of his iconic blues-rock band’s songs into BFG’s sets.
Anyone at the trio’s Jan. 23 return to the Belly Up hoping to hear some ZZ Top was in for a treat. The BFG Band — featuring Mike “The Drifter” Flanigin on bass and Hammond B3 organ and Chris “Whipper” Layton on drums — stacked its 17-song set with 14 ZZ Top songs, ranging from popular hits to seldom-heard deep cuts.
Sauntering onstage, Gibbons greeted the sold-out house with, “You know we came to have a good time.” For the next 90 minutes, the band effortlessly ensured that everyone would leave the landmark Solana Beach club feeling the same.
They opened with a ZZ Top one-two punch from 1973’s Tres Hombres — “Waitin’ for the Bus” segueing into “Jesus Just Left Chicago” — before leaning into crowd-rousing favorites “Gimme All Your Lovin’” and “Cheap Sunglasses.”
Gibbons, his trademark red beard perfectly coiffed, wasted no time lacing in his disarming sense of humor. Setting up the last song, he lamented how down he’s been, drawing sympathetic “awws” from the room. Then, he explained it’s because the dollar store closed and now he can’t get his cheap sunglasses.
The singer-guitarist, 76, actually sported stylish black Bandito sunglasses, the brand he launched last year. Twinning with Flanigin, both wore identical cherry-red bolero jackets, burgundy pants and wide-brim hats (Gibbons’ Bamileke beanie peeking out underneath), and wielded matching green-and-orange floral guitars.
Early on, the sound didn’t quite live up to the Belly Up’s standards — Layton’s drums came across more tinny than full, and Gibbons’ vocals were faint under his gritty guitar tone.
Seemingly addressing the issue, Gibbons said he upset the sound tech earlier by asking him to move all the front speakers. The reason? So the crowd could see his fabulous shoes. It drew laughs, but the same bit was part of the band’s 2018 performance here.
“Got Love if You Want It,” the first of just two BFG songs they’d perform tonight, shifted the spotlight to Flanigin, who moved from bass to organ and earned hoots and hollers for his kinetic work at the keys. The Slim Harpo cover appeared on BFG’s Afro-Cuban and Latin-flavored 2015 debut, Perfectamundo, as did the later instrumental jam “Q-Vo.” The band didn’t play anything from its two subsequent albums, The Big Bad Blues and Hardware.
Dipping back into The Little Ol’ Band from Texas’ classic catalog, Gibbons teased the crowd during “Blue Jean Blues,” a song about girlfriends stealing their boyfriend’s jeans. He also quipped about updating 1972’s “Francine” so the song’s protagonist was 18 years old instead of 13. While wrapped in humor, both blues romps allowed Gibbons to flex his deft guitar chops during extended solos.
The night’s biggest surprise arrived midway through, when Gibbons rewound the clock to before ZZ Top’s 1969 start. He recalled his first band, Houston’s psychedelic blues outfit The Moving Sidewalks, which landed a Top 10 hit and earned a coveted opening slot for The Jimi Hendrix Experience on its 1968 Texas tour. Short on original material, the group padded its set with Hendrix covers, including the one that followed — a take on “Foxy Lady” dressed in flash and finesse.
At this point, two things became evident: First, you were in the presence of greatness. Gibbons, one of the most unassuming artists you’re likely to see, fully lives up to his reputation as one of the greatest blues-rock guitarists of his time. Second, given the ZZ Top-heavy setlist, it felt like you were witnessing a private event in an intimate club, like when The Rolling Stones were paid an estimated $2 million to play a secret show here in 2015.
By night’s end, the band had delivered nearly twice as many ZZ Top rarities (nine) as hits (five), before closing how they started — with a balanced mix of both.
During “Sharp Dressed Man,” from 1983’s diamond-certified Eliminator, Gibbons and Flanigin recreated the swaggy dance moves from the MTV video that helped turn ZZ Top into a cultural touchstone. And on “Brown Sugar,” from the group’s 1971 debut, the cheekily titled ZZ Top’s First Album, Gibbons’ voice sounded as gravelly as ever — like it had been blasted by a few more Southwest sandstorms since his last visit.
The threesome wrapped its main set with a down-and-dirty version of “La Grange,” followed by the fun encore “Thunderbird,” inciting the audience to sing along: Get high, everybody, get high. An ode to the potent sweet wine, it was a fitting bookend to Gibbons’ promise at the top of the show to get loose and have a good time.
Donovan Roche is a regular music and culture contributor to Times of San Diego.
