Sunrise in Texas

In less than one month the Top machine will be hitting the road again. Taking a slightly longer winter break than usual, there are hesitations, anticipations and excited expectations concerning the 2010 roadshow.

Relatively little has been heard over the past five months. Normally the typical rumors attesting to studio workouts or a new album are "leaked" out and debated amongst fans (remember last year the official website zztop.com touted "new tour, new album, new everything"). What the hell - where did the new album go? It must be noted that if even the official website is a rumor mill than confirmation of a new album can only occur when one is holding a shiny piece of plastic with a production date of 2010 in small print on the back, and emblazed across the front is that most exciting combination of letters, ZZ TOP.

As it stands now the band will open the proceedings in their home state of Texas on April 23rd. If you're like me you are already fantasising about the set list, the opportunity, the potential for changes, stages, rearranges. No more teases, let's hear "My Head's in Mississippi" in its entirety. Kill the lumbering "Pincushion" once and for all. And please remember that albums named "Rhythmeen" and "Mescalero" were recorded by three talented musicians, each consisting of at least eight tracks suitable for live and alive rendition.

People are allowed to dream aren't they? So here it stands, my wish list for the 2010 ZZ Top live extravaganza:

- More personalized and unique banter from Billy
- Hearing what Mr. Hill thinks
- Confirming that Mr. Beard can still smile while wailing on his drum kit
- Bring back "Arrested For Driving While Blind", "Ten Foot Pole", "Dust My Broom", "Just Got
Back From Baby's", "Precious and Grace" and "It's Only Love".
- Introduce "Pretty Head", "Loaded", "Shiek", "Sure Got Cold After the Rain Fell", "It's So
Hard", and "Mescalero".
- Kill "Pincushion", "Tush", "Tube Snake Boogie", "Cheap Sunglasses" and "Gimme All Your
Lovin'".

Seriously, who am I kidding!? I would go see the band even if they jammed on "Tush" for 75 minutes (but I wouldn't go to South America to see it).

There are at least a dozen tracks that the group has sitting in the can going back to the early '90's, as well as a number of songs Billy has worked on since "Mescalero's" release in 2003. Maybe one of these unreleased tracks will be shown some love in a live forum.

At any rate, I remain confident that this will prove to be a great year. ZZ is headed to some places it has never been, and that creates excitement in and of itself. As my good friend stated before, we need some USA East Coast dates so I can frequent more than one or two shows this year.

Any changes you would like to see this year - think about it.