Blimp Time-Hop: First Concert At CCCC In ’77 With ZZ Top

It's is a mighty significant anniversary for Portland, Maine. 43 years ago today, the very first event happened at the Civic Center. And it is of course quite fitting that here in Blimpville, the first event was a rock concert.

On March 3, 1977, WBLM welcomed ZZ Top for the inaugural night of rock at the CCCC on the Worldwide Texas tour. That “lil’ ol’ band from Texas” was on the road in support of their album, Tejas which featured the songs It’s Only Love and Arrested for Driving While Blind. Opening this historic show was Maine’s own, The Blend.

We can't find the Portland setlist but, it's likely that it went something like this night on St. Patrick's Day a couple weeks later in Boston.

Our longtime friend, Andrew Govatsos was the promoter. Listen to his memories of bringing the 1st rock concert EVER to the Civic Center even though the venue wasn't finished. Seats weren't even fully installed yet. He's a wicked character.

Wish we could find a tape of this historic night in Blimpville. But hey, check out this live concert from Birmingham, Alabama one month after the 1st Civic center show in Portland on April 3, 1977. The recording starts out rough then it gets better. If you were at our show, this will get your memories flowin', bub. Enjoy.

Here's a great example of why Jimi Hendrix thought so highly of Billy Gibbons as a guitar player. Hallelujah, it's a rippin' version of Chevrolet from the Cap Centre in DC from 1976.

We count 20 shows in Maine and 10 shows in New Hampshire from 1975 to 2019. There's no doubt that Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill, and Frank Beard  love to bring the Texas boogie to Blimpville.

Here's the setlist and poster from the first Maine ZZ show in Lewiston 44 years ago.

We guess the promoters couldn't find a ZZ Top picture for the poster so they used warm-up act Brownsville Station on it instead. At least they are also a trio...close enough for rock n' roll, eh?

This still hangs just outside the WBLM studio door. The tickets were $5 in advance and $6 at the door. We had to make sure we got 'em fast so we wouldn't have to pay that extra buck, right?