Live from Texas

I rarely review, but felt compelled to save people from this one. The audio is horrible. I tried DD, DTS, stereo, etc. Muddy, muddled, echo'y...not sure else how to describe it. The vocals are completely a mess...like they are singing thru a pillow, while the instruments are wide open. The video is crisp and clear, but often, it shifts scene to scene every 2 seconds. I could make lots of comments about content, but it is useless due to my above comments. I like ZZ!. But this is a disaster.

I always knew these guys were getting long in the tooth because they were my rock heros when I was in diapers, sucking on fudgesicles (I'm now 46). I have to think that Billy Gibbons is suffering from arthritis because his timing and accuracy in hitting guitar notes is just awful. It's actually painful to hear these guys play. Frank Beard (drummer) looks like he'd rather be attending a funeral than playing this gig. With all the other reviewers complaining about the poor audio mix on this disc, I can't beleive no one else noticed this lackluster performance of the "L'il Ol' Band from Texas."

I've heard some good and some bad recordings of live performances. This one literally stinks it's so bad. I tried to remain enthusiastic but it never got any better throughout the entire DVD. (In my particular case it certainly can't be blamed on the equipment. I have top of the line Polk Audio speakers & subwoofer set up for 5.1 Surround and driven by a Sony 770w receiver.) It's crappy recording and mixing. Not at all what I'd expect from ZZ Top.

Three chord rock is probably the hardest genre of music to pull off live. However, ZZ Top exceeds the everything is bigger and and better in Texas expectation with a stompin' down home stage performance where every tune is a recognizable hit made in the good ol' USA. I'd love to party with these guys! This video is the next best thing.

I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised. I loved ZZ Top (mainly the early stuff) while in high school. Many of the bands from high school seem a step behind live. However, I guess when you play simple blues it's much easier. This isn't a KISS show that will dazzle but it's solid music with a backdrop more modern than I would have imagined. The extras are OK the best being the bonus song.