Dates Set for 2025 ZZ Top and Billy Gibbons Tours
· Ultimate Classic RockBilly Gibbons and ZZ Top will be crisscrossing the U.S. in early 2025. Dates and cities have now been confirmed for a band tour and a Gibbons solo trek. See a complete list below.
The first shows, in January and February, find Gibbons appearing with his BFGs solo group. They'll make multi-show stops in Honolulu and Napa, California, then tour into Phoenix, St. Louis, Chicago, Cleveland and Atlantic City, N.J., among others. Tickets to see Billy F. Gibbons and the BFGs go on sale on Nov. 1.
ZZ Top subsequently kicks off the 2025 Elevation Tour in March. They open with dates in Alabama and Florida then continue through April with a series of stops that include Milwaukee and Cincinnati. On-going current dates run into November with a concert on tap at Nashville's famed Ryman Auditorium. Tickets are already on sale.
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Gibbons and fellow ZZ Top stalwart Frank Beard are touring with bassist Elwood Francis following the 2021 death of Dusty Hill. The BFGs were launched in 2015 with the release of Perfectamundo. Gibbons' next two albums, 2018's The Big Bad Blues and 2021's Hardware, were both issued as solo projects. ZZ Top's most recent studio LP remains 2012's La Futura.
Billy F. Gibbons and the BFGs 2025 Tour
1/17-20/2025 – Blue Note Hawaii @ Honolulu, HI
1/21-24/2025 – Blue Note Napa @ Napa, CA
1/25/2025 – Agua Caliente Casino Cathedral City @ Cathedral City, CA
1/26/2025 – Musical Instrument Museum @ Phoenix, AZ
1/28/2025 – Vilar Performing Arts Center @ Beaver Creek, CO
1/31/2025 – The Pageant @ St. Louis, MO
2/1/2025 – Park West @ Chicago, IL
2/2/2025 - House of Blues @ Cleveland
2/4/2025 – Jergel's Rhythm Grille @ Warrendale, PA
2/6/2025 – Kentucky Theatre @ Lexington, KY
2/7/2025 – The Paramount Theater @ Charlottesville, VA
2/8/2025 – Borgata Theater @ Atlantic City, NJ
2/10/2025 – The Bardavon 1869 Opera House @ Poughkeepsie, NY
2/12/2025 – The Music Hall @ Portsmouth, NH
2/13/2025 – The Cabot @ Beverly, MA
2/14/2025 – Ridgefield Playhouse @ Ridgefield, CT
2/15/2025 – Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center @ Great Barrington, MA
2/19/2025 – The Birchmere @ Alexandria, VA
2/20/2025 – Paramount Bristol @ Bristol, TN
ZZ Top's 2025 Elevation Tour
3/5/2025 – Dothan Civic Center @ Dothan, AL
3/6/2025 – Saenger Theatre @ Mobile, AL
3/9/2025 – Pompano Beach Amphitheater @ Pompano Beach, FL
3/10/2025 – Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall @ Fort Myers, FL
3/12/2025 – Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa @ Tampa, FL
3/14/2025 – St. Augustine Amphitheatre @ St. Augustine, FL
3/18/2025 – Anderson Music Hall @ Hiawassee, GA
3/19/2025 – North Charleston Performing Arts Center @ North Charleston, SC
3/21/2025 – Crown Theatre @ Fayetteville, NC
3/22/2025 – Bell Auditorium @ Augusta, GA
3/23/2025 – Montgomery Performing Arts Centre @ Montgomery, AL
3/26/2025 – John Hunt Auditorium @ Tifton, GA
3/28/2025 – SKyPAC @ Bowling Green, KY
4/1/2025 – Brown County Music Center @ Nashville, IN
4/2/2025 – Blue Gate Performing Arts Center @ Shipshewana, IN
4/3/2025 – FIM Capitol Theatre @ Flint, MI
4/5/2025 – State Farm Center @ Champaign, IL
4/6/2025 – The Riverside Theatre @ Milwaukee, WI
4/8/2025 – Andrew J Brady Music Center @ Cincinnati, OH
4/11/2025 - Show Me Center @ Cape Girardeau, MO
4/12/2025 – East Arkansas Community College @ Forrest City, AR
15: 'XXX' (1999)
When ZZ Top put out a record celebrating their 30th year in the business, every one of those years seemed to be showing. It had been a decade and a half since 'Eliminator,' and they were still struggling to definitively build upon or move on from that out-sized success. Unfortunately, 'XXX' often felt like a placekeeper.
14: 'Recycler' (1990)
Still reaching for 'Eliminator'-style success, 'Recycler' once again comes up a little short. Still, it's not without a few minor classics, including “Decision or Collision,” which rattles along like a classic muscle car that’s a can or two short of oil, bucking and squeaking and then lurching forward with a kind of thrilling unpredictability. All they needed was seven or eight more of these.
13: 'Antenna' (1994)
An attempt to return to their roots, 'Antenna' is hampered not by its reliance on dated studio tricks but by the lack of quality material. Beyond the first few songs, ZZ Top appears to be having a crisis of creativity. Once masters of the winking, three-chord blues, they mostly shuffle through a generic set of throwaways.
12: 'Rhythmeen' (1996)
It's still hard, at times, to believe all of this glorious racket is coming from only three dudes. That said, it will always come down to the songs, and 'Rhythmeen' continues a somewhat unsatisfying period for ZZ Top. The worst part is, they had a hook with this long-awaited return to the blues, but the LP sometimes ends up sounding more boringly retrograde than old-school cool.
11: 'La Futura' (2012)
'La Futura' didn't break any new ground. but it wasn't an embarrassment either. From the white-trash groove of "Heartache in Blue" to the pedal-mashing boogie of "Lose Lose You," from the slow-motion heavy-metal menace of "It's Too Easy" to the gloriously debauched "I Gotsta Get Paid," 'La Futura' had the feel of vintage stuff made new.
10: 'Afterburner' (1985)
ZZ Top upped the ante on the modernization that drove 'Eliminator' up the charts, as stabbing keyboards, mechanized drums and various computerized loops propelled favorites like “Stages,” “Rough Boy," "Sleeping Bag" and “Velcro Fly.” For longtime fans, there was “Woke Up.” All scroungy licks and lecherous intent, it connects directly with the best of early ZZ Top.
9: 'Tejas' (1976)
Critics said 'Tejas' represented a step back creatively for a band that had put out consecutive hit albums — and its relative commercial failure spurred ZZ Top to one of their best albums ever. But 'Tejas' is better than its reviews. “El Diablo” matched their best-loved work stride for stride, as did the lithe little down-home rocker “She’s a Heartbreaker.”
8: 'ZZ Top's First Album' (1970)
A boiling pot of greasy roots rock, backwoods twang, tough Texas blues and just a pinch of lip-smacking salaciousness. ZZ Top would eventually add a whole lot more of the latter, and their recipe for success was complete. Still, 'First Album' stands as a template for every success ZZ Top would one day have.
7: 'Mescalero' (2003)
Remember what ZZ Top used to sound like – the tantalizing amalgam of blues, hard rock and Texas-born don’t-give-a-darn — before they cloaked themselves in an MTV-approved sheen of synthesizers? It’s like that again. But with a spicy dash of roots music too, including Tejano and country.
6: 'Rio Grande Mud' (1972)
The power of this album isn't just that songs like “Francine,” “Just Got Paid” and “Whiskey ‘n Mama” find ZZ Top in a lockstep, blood-brother groove. And not just the danger that lurks behind every verse. And not just the liquid-fire solos from Billy Gibbons, or the way ZZ Top can stop and start on a dime. It’s every bit of that.
5: 'Fandango' (1975)
A half-studio, half-live recording that produced ZZ Top’s first Top 40 single with “Tush,” 'Fandango' is also home to plenty of deep-cut delights — not least of which is their roadhouse-rattling “Backdoor Medley” from a wild performance in New Orleans. For sheer reckless abandon, though, drop a needle on the Dusty Hill co-led “Heard It on the X.”
4: 'El Loco' (1981)
“Tube Snake Boogie” and “Pearl Necklace” stand, even today, as the pinnacle of ZZ Top's perv-boogie songs -- no small feat. Dig deeper, however, and you find the first appearance of synths, completing the final piece of what would become a mega-selling formula. Then there's the striking melancholy of “I Wanna Drive You Home,” one of ZZ Top's deepest, darkest ruminations.
3: 'Eliminator' (1983)
ZZ Top have never had more commercial success – a worldwide smash hit, 'Eliminator' sold more than 10 million copies – but also never sounded more commercial, thanks to the arrival of synthesizers, sequencers and drum machines. They succeeded by keeping a fun-loving attitude that had helped establish ZZ Top's legacy in the first place.
2: 'Deguello' (1979)
After three years out of the studio, ZZ Top returned with an album that's brilliant from beginning (the smoky intrigue of “Thank You”) to middle (the rumbling “I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide”) to end (the endlessly intriguing “Cheap Sunglasses”). In between, there’s “Manic Mechanic,” which seems to point directly to the over-the-top sounds of their '80s output.
1: 'Tres Hombres' (1973)
There's a reason this album — from the opening cut’s “have mercy!” to the “how how how” of “La Grange” — has been played until the grooves are smooth. It doesn't get any better, as Billy Gibbons adds a clinched howl and perfectly gnarled guitar asides to the nasty grooves laid down by Dusty Hill and Frank Beard. One of the deep cuts said it best: "Hot, Blue and Righteous."
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