ZZ Top & George Thorogood - Live In Sydney, Australia 2025 Review

 

 

 

Approximately 15,000 people showed up to witness the great spectacle that is legendary blues rock musicians George Thorogood & The Destroyers and ZZ Top, perform at a sold out crowd in Sydney, Australia on May 13 2025, during ZZ Top's current Elevation world wide tour. 

Opening up for the trio was local Aussie musician Dallas Frasca, who I didn't know too much about. She performed a brief 30 minute set which included a couple of original songs and ending it with a bunch of Led Zeppelin covers which seemed to work well with the crowd.

We didn't need to wait for very long for the set change over. In fact, for all acts the theater venue was prompt every time. There was no delay throughout set ups. At about 8pm, the lights went down and George Thorogood & The Destroyers ran out on stage to a blistering performance of "Rock Party". George & his Destroyers band have been a world wide name over the past 50 odd years Mixing heavy rock with a classic rockabilly & Americana sound. George & his band was in fine form through the whole show, which was just over an hour. During this time, they were very generous and enjoyed entertaining the Sydney crowd. Our audience was very good and quite responsive to both acts. 

 

George Thorogood & The Destroyer's set featured a mixture of original performances and classic rock & roll covers. To many it doesn't matter if George does a lot of covers in his show, because he is just so good at performing them anyway. Also, may I add that his saxophonist was in such fine form, the drummer was tight, and everyone was having a great time.

 

 

George Thorogood & The Destroyers performing live in Sydney, Australia on May 13 2025. Photo Credit: Cameron Hons.

From "Rock Party"  they went through a couple of classic blues rock covers like Bo-Diddly's "Who Do You Love?" J.B. Lenoir's "Mama Talk To Your Daughter" with loads of call-and-response crowd participation. There were several other original tracks such as "I Drink Alone", "House Rent Blues / One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer", "Get A Haircut", "Gear Jammer", continuing with 2 more covers - Hank Williams & His Drifting Cowboys "Move It On Over" and another crowd sing-along of the Them one hit wonder song "Gloria". Shortly before kicking into their last number for the evening, a thrilling extended version of Bad To The Bone. Overall, George Thorogood & The Destroyers were hugely entertaining and seemed to visibly enjoy themselves, as well did the audience. It would only be about half an hour before the lights would dim again and ZZ Top came out on stage to start the show with the classic "Got Me Under Pressure".

 

This time round many speculate that it could be ZZ Top's last time touring the country. Long time drummer Frank Beard was noticeably absent from the tour, & previous American shows due to recovering from a medical emergency earlier in the year, and losing Dusty Hill with his unfortunate death back in 2021. Despite all the hardships, ZZ Top were here, featuring original front man Billy Gibbons, new bassist Elwood Francis, and fill in drummer John Douglas, who seemed to fit into the camp very well. They still sounded like ZZ Top to me, and seemed to please the crowd over.

 

After a cover of Sam & Dave's "I Thank You" , we were welcomed with more classic hits, such as "Waitin' For The Bus" & "Jesus Just Left Chicago". Both tracks seemed to fit quite well after the other. The trio were in fine form, breaking out into a couple of jam sections and guitar solos. Next were a couple of deep cuts, such as "Pearl Necklace", "I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide" then some more classics "I Gotsta Get Paid", "My Head's In Mississippi" (to which Gibbons stated today, his head was actually in Sydney Australia) then getting back into the swing of things with the legendary "Just Got Paid", and of course "Sharp Dressed Man", which everyone sang along to without hesitation. The main set ended with "Legs" and after a brief encore break the trio came back on stage to finish the show off with Brown Sugar (the track from their first album), "Tube-Snake Boogie" and the famous "La Grange" with its breakout jam in all its glory.

 

ZZ Top performing in Sydney, Australia on May 13 2025. Photo Credit: Cameron Hons

 

Though it may seem like ZZ Top & George Thorogood's final time visiting the country, it didn't feel like it. Both bands were running around on stage and performing as if  they were still in their 20's. According to a recent report there could be a new ZZ Top album coming in 2025. So who knows? Maybe they could be back on our shores again sometime soon. ZZ Top and George Thorogood were both a fine combination. I'd like to see them back again one day. Even if it is their last time down under, they certainly went out with a bang and not a whimper.

 

 

Setlist

George Thorogood & The Destroyers

 

01. Rock Party
02 Who Do You Love? (Bo-Diddly Cover)
03 Mama Talk To Your Daughter (J.B. Lenoir Cover)
04. I Drink Alone
05. House Rent Blues / One Burbon, One Scotch, One Beer 
06. Get A Haircut
07. Gear Jammer
08. Move It On Over (Hank Williams & His Drifting Cowboys cover)
09. Gloria (Them cover)

10 Bad To The Bone

 

ZZ Top 

 

01 Got Me Under Pressure
02 I Thank You (Sam & Dave Cover)

03 Waitin' For The Bus
04 Jesus Just Left Chicago
05 Gimme All Your Lovin'
06 Pearl Necklace
07 I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide

08 I Gotsta Get Paid
09 My Head's In Mississippi
10 Sixteen Tons (Merle Travis cover)

11 Just Got Paid
12 Sharp Dressed Man
13 Legs

Encores:

14 Brown Sugar
15 Tube-Snake Boogie
16 La Grange 

 

 

 Rating: ★★★★★