ZZ Top and Lynyrd Skynyrd are teaming up for a 23-date joint run this summer, dubbed “The Sharp Dressed Simple Man Tour.” The trek kicks off on July 21st at West Palm Beach, Florida's iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre and runs all the way through September 17th when the two iconic Southern Rock legends hit Camden, New Jersey's Freedom Mortgage Pavilion. Tickets go on sale this Friday, December 16th, at 10 a.m.
It's going on 40 years after ZZ Top's MTV era-defining 1983 Eliminator album, which featured such instant band classics as “Gimme All Your Lovin',” “Sharp Dressed Man,” and “Legs.” We asked guitarist Billy F. Gibbons how the band was able to embrace the 1980's while staying true to themselves musically: “Yeah, well as the old saying goes: 'One foot in the blues.' It keeps it honest and kinda straight ahead. We can narrow the range — take it far left, far right; let's go back to step one — the blues.”
Frontman Johnny Van Zant told us that the best of Lynyrd Skynyrd's music has always seemed to defy genres: “They gave us a tag years ago of 'Southern Rock,' and to me I always thought that must mean it's 'Country Rock,' which is the truth, and around our house we were listening to Merle Haggard and George Jones, but we also watched Ed Sullivan and saw Elvis Presley and the Beatles, too, and loved all that stuff too, so there's no boundaries in music these days.”
ZZ Top kicks off their latest string of dates on February 4th in Taupo, New Zealand at Taupo Amphitheatre Riverside Park.
Lynyrd Skynyrd next performs on February 23rd in San Antonio, Texas at the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo.
JUST ANNOUNCED: ZZ Top / Lynyrd Skynyrd tour dates (subject to change):
July 21 – West Palm Beach, FL – iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre
July 23 – Alpharetta, GA – Ameris Bank Amphitheatre
July 28 – Rogers, AR – Walmart AMP
July 29 – Fort Worth, TX – Dickies Arena
July 30 – Woodlands, TX – The Cynthia Woods Mitchell
August 7 – Denver, CO – Fiddler's Green Amphitheatre
August 10 – Mountain View, CA – Shoreline Amphitheatre
August 11 – Wheatland, CA – Toyota Amphitheatre
August 13 – Phoenix, AZ – Ak-Chin Pavilion
August 17 – Maryland Heights, MO – Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
August 19 – Tinley Park, IL – Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
August 20 – Noblesville, IN – Ruoff Music Center
August 25 – Cincinnati, OH – Riverbend Music Center
August 26 – Clarkston, MI – Pine Knob Music Theatre
August 27 – Toronto, ON – Budweiser Stage
September 1 – Charlotte, NC – PNC Music Pavilion
September 2 – Columbia, MD – Merriweather Post Pavilion
September 3 – Burgettstown, PA – The Pavilion at Star Lake
September 8 – Saratoga Springs, NY – Saratoga Performing Arts Center
September 9 – Hershey, PA – Hersheypark Stadium
September 10 – Holmdel, NJ – PNC Bank Arts Center
September 15 – Raleigh, NC – Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek
September 17 – Camden, NJ – Freedom Mortgage Pavilion