Blimp Time Hop: ZZ Top/Black Crowes Sold-Out At CCCC In 1991

30 years ago,  ZZ Top played for two nights to two sold-out crowds at the Civic Center in Portland on January 23rd and 24th.

They were here on the Recycler tour and the song My Head’s in Mississippi was rockin’ the airwaves of WBLM.   

Recycler was the last album of their “synthesizer” period that began in 1983, with Eliminator. You may also remember that the Black Crowes opened those shows and were kicked off the tour soon after. 

We remember some dancers from Mark's Showplace joined Billy, Dusty, and Frank onstage for the song, Give It Up. A hot couple January nights in Blimpville was just the 'voodoo healin' we all needed.

We're also pretty sure we recall that the ZZ Top band members did some bowling at Yankee Lanes on Riverside Street after they rocked the Civic Center. How cool would that have been to be rolling big balls with those legends in the house?

Here's everything our favorite 'little ol' band from Texas' played.

If you are wondering what they played on the January 23rd show, you guessed it. The set was exactly the same. However, we had absolutely no problem hearing these killer songs live two nights in a row.

Watch ZZ Top performing the 1980s classic Legs at Madison Square Garden in NYC, just a few days after the Portland shows.

We count 20 appearances in Maine over the years starting with a 1975 show in Lewiston and including them being the first concert ever at the Cumberland County Civic Center in 1977.

Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill, and Frank Beard have been mighty gracious to us here in Blimpville.

We are forever grateful that they have consistently made us a destination when they are on the road.

Watch their incredible story celebrating 50 years on Netflix. It's called ZZ Top: That Little Ol ' Band From Texas. 

Check out the trailer here.