VIDEO: Live at the Marquee: Bearded bad boys ZZ Top prove a blast
Surely no one privileged enough to have been in the Marquee last night could dare challenge the time-worn rock ânâ roll legend that Hendrix gave his beloved pink Stratocaster to Billy Gibbons having been blown away by the ZZ Top frontmanâs incredible playing. He certainly had that pink Fender on all night, and Jimi on the big screens.
Had Wayne and Garth been with us in the mosh pit last night, theyâd still be there now this morning, protesting their unworthiness. Instead, as you read this with your mid-morning coffee, thereâs just a handful of us Corkonians in fake beards back at the scene, wondering was it real and asking ourselves how weâll kill the next 12 months waiting for the worldâs best blues band to, hopefully, once again deem us worthy of their third coming.
Beards to midriffs, bikers with spliffs, @ZZTop rocking the Marquee #LATM word also to @crowblackband smoking blues band from Clonmel
— Joe Dermody (@JoeDermody) June 22, 2015
They gave us all the hits. The crowd lost the plot during âGimme All Your Lovinâ, âSharp Dressed Manâ and âLegsâ, but they were equally in awe of âI Heard It On The Xâ, âIâm Bad Iâm Nationwideâ, âCheap Sunglassesâ and âMy Headâs In Mississipiâ.
From the first bars of âIt Puts Me Under Pressureâ, their synchronised goose steps put a smile on the crowd, appreciative teeth shining through navel-deep beards; first time the tentâs aroma hung so heavy with denim and leather, you could even get it on the way in, rising off the bikes as they cooled off in the parking area.
âWe been talking on the way down here and we realised we been doinâ this over four decades,â said Billy. âAnd we love coming here hanginâ with you all because youâre bad and youâre nationwide.â
They know how to charm. They also know how to pay homage to the original wild one, with a jaw-dropping cover of Hendrixâs Foxy Lady.
What a band. Bassist Dusty Hill is much more than the âotherâ beard in the band; heâs half of the grittiest rhythm section ever to don sunglasses in the dark; and still he and drummer Frank Beard (the beardless one) stay in regular eye contact.
Theyâve learned some tricks over time. This band formed in 1969, with far less facial hair back then. And theyâve written countless great songs in the interim. In fact, they have released 15 albums since 1983âs Eliminator, the latest of which is the greatest hits double-CD, The Very Baddest of ZZ Top. The next time the devil rides down to Georgia, we know what heâll have blasting through his speakers.
All through this show, the MTV vid girls and big cars flounce on giant screens; these guys are so good, the images add to rather than distract from the spectacle.
The showmanship is incredible. The musicianship is unreal. Bad boys playing the devilâs riffs, beards to midriffs, bikers with spliffs, we just canât get enough of this loving stuff.
Chart-toppers The Coronas have offered a teenager a VIP trip to one of their shows after she was attacked at their Live at the Marquee concert in Cork.
Erin Kelleher had a crushed beer can smashed into her head towards the end of last Fridayâs sold-out gig.
She told the Neil Prendeville Show on Corkâs RedFM yesterday how she accidentally bumped into a woman as she was returning from the toilets.
Erin said she apologised, but that the woman she bumped into verbally abused her before a man nearby crushed a beer can in his hand and smashed it into her forehead two or three times.
Erin stumbled away dazed, a large gash over her left eye, bleeding profusely.
Concert security approached her but Erin said she didnât think she could identify her attacker.
âThe first aid staff did offer emergency treatment but all I wanted to do was find my friends,â Erin said.
She was patched up at home and did not seek hospital treatment.
A spokesman for concert promoters, Aiken Promotions, said they had no reports of this incident, or of reports of a brawl on the same night involving up to 12 young men.
The Coronas heard of Erinâs plight and have now offered her VIP tickets and accommodation for a gig they are due to play in Galway next month.
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