LIVE: ZZ Top – LaGrange, GA, USA – September 19, 2026

Venue: Sweetwater Amphitheatre

City: LaGrange, GA

Date: September 19, 2026

Review and Photographs by: James Zambon (https://jameszambon.com)

There probably couldn’t be a more fitting place for ZZ Top to spend a Saturday night than LaGrange, Georgia. On September 19, the Texas legends rolled into town for a completely sold-out show, with Jive Mother Mary opening the evening and setting the stage with a distinctive Southern rock sound that fit perfectly with what was on the agenda. Unfortunately, the increasingly ominous clouds overhead were also setting the stage for what was to come. Few American rock bands can claim a history quite like ZZ Top. Formed in Houston in 1969, the band built its reputation around the unmistakable combination of Texas blues, hard rock, humor and swagger supplied by Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill and Frank Beard. Their career eventually stretched from the blues-heavy early records of the 1970s through the massive MTV-era success of Eliminator and beyond. Following Hill’s death in 2021, longtime guitar tech Elwood Francis stepped into the bass role alongside Gibbons and Beard, allowing ZZ Top to continue doing what the band has done for 57 years: taking its music on the road.

In LaGrange, that longevity was reflected in the audience. This was a crowd that clearly knew the songs, knew the band and wasn’t about to let some bad weather ruin the evening. The threatening clouds eventually delivered, with rain beginning during the show and progressively getting harder as the night went on. Ponchos appeared throughout the crowd, but remarkably few people seemed interested in heading for the exits. As the rain turned into a genuine soaking, the sold-out audience simply settled in and stayed with the band. ZZ Top gave them plenty of reason to stay. Opening with “Got Me Under Pressure,” the band moved through a set spanning decades of its catalog, including “Waitin’ for the Bus,” “Jesus Just Left Chicago,” “Pearl Necklace,” “I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide,” “Cheap Sunglasses” and “Just Got Paid.” The familiar opening notes of “Gimme All Your Lovin'” brought another surge from the crowd, while the late-set pairing of “Sharp Dressed Man” and “Legs” delivered exactly the kind of larger-than-life ZZ Top everyone had come to see. Gibbons remains an immediately recognizable presence, both as a guitarist and frontman, and the band’s wonderfully odd sense of humor is still very much part of the performance.

That humor produced the night’s most memorable moment. Near the end of the show, Gibbons brought his wife and mother-in-law onto the stage, explaining that his mother-in-law was celebrating her 94th birthday. The two joined the band for a few minutes in front of the LaGrange crowd before Gibbons asked his mother-in-law if she would like to join them in singing with them. Her answer was immediate, emphatic and probably impossible to improve upon: “Fuck no.” The crowd loved it. Of course, there was really only one way this particular show could end. ZZ Top returned for an encore and launched into “La Grange,” the band’s 1973 classic inspired by the Texas town of the same name. The geographical coincidence made it an especially appropriate finale in LaGrange, Georgia. By then the rain was coming down in earnest, but after spending the evening under increasingly miserable skies, the crowd wasn’t going anywhere. Thousands of soaked fans remained in place for one last blast of Texas boogie.

After 57 years, ZZ Top doesn’t need to prove much to anyone. But a sold-out crowd willing to stick through an increasingly heavy Georgia rainstorm offered a pretty good demonstration of why the band is still out there touring. The songs remain instantly recognizable, the musicianship is there, and the band’s particular mixture of blues, rock, swagger and silliness still translates remarkably well onstage. On a wet Saturday night in LaGrange, ZZ Top showed exactly why generations of fans are still willing to show up, put on a poncho and stick around until the final note.

Setlist: Got Me Under Pressure – I Thank You – Waitin’ for the Bus – Jesus Just Left Chicago – Gimme All Your Lovin’ – Pearl Necklace – I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide – I Gotsta Get Paid – My Head’s in Mississippi – Brown Paper Bag – Cheap Sunglasses – Just Got Paid – Sharp Dressed Man – Legs – La Grange

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Category: Live Reviews, Photo Galleries