ZZ Top to play first-ever Vancouver theatre show this March

I've been lucky enough to have seen ZZ Top a number of times over the years, the first being at the Pacific Coliseum back in 1976 or so. I think it was on the Fandango tour, but I can't find any mention of that gig anywhere online. Anybody else see that show, before the big-beard period? Pretty sure I didn't imagine it.

I also saw them at the Coliseum at the height of their popularity, on the Eliminator tour of '84. OMG was it a zoo in there. I'd never seen such a roiling mass of bodies on an arena floor. 

The last time I saw the Top was in August of 2007 at GM Place, toplining Jack's Big Show, with guests the Pretenders and the Stray Cats. I remember seeing local legend Joey Keithley from D.O.A. there, grooving along to "I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide".

And I probably would have seen them back in August of 2009 at B.C. Place on a coheadlining bill with Aerosmith if that show hadn't have been cancelled at the last minute. Pesky Steven Tyler and his pesky onstage injuries.

The big news for local ZZ Top fans these days is that the band will be playing here again on March 22—but not at any cavernous hockey rink or football stadium. The Texas trio is booked for the 2,800-capacity Queen Elizabeth Theatre! It's a soft-seater, so your butt won't ache while you marvel at the killer tone of Billy Gibbons' fuzzy guitar and your spine tingles from that masterful spark of feedback he hits at the 1:53 point of "Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers".

Tickets for the show go on sale tomorrow (December 6) at 10 a.m, and you can find 'em here.