Blimp Time-Hop: ZZ Top Opens The Civic Center In ’77
It's is a mighty significant anniversary for Portland, Maine! 42 years ago today, the very first event happened at the Civic Center. And of course 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 featuring It’s Only Love and Arrested for Driving While Blind. Opening the show was Maine’s own, The Blend.
We can't find the Portland setlist but, it's likely that it went something like this St. Patrick's Day show 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.
Wish we could find a tape of the 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. Enjoy!
And Hallelujah! Here's the pre-long bearded ZZ performing the second song of the set, Chevrolet at the Cap Centre in DC, November 1976.
We count 20 shows in Maine and 9 shows in New Hampshire from 1975 to 2016, ZZ loves 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 openers Brownsville Station on it instead. At least they are also a trio...close enough for rock n' roll!