TVD Live Shots: Billy Gibbons and the BFGs with Tyler Bryant at the Regency Ballroom, 12/9

The voice of ZZ Top and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Billy Gibbons released his debut solo record Perfectomundo last month and it’s not what you might expect. The legendary blues guitarist channels his childhood percussionist roots (Gibbons was once a student of mambo legend Tito Puente) in the context of Afro-Cuban rhythms and unexplored territory—and it works remarkably well.

The first single from the album, a cover of rockabilly singer Roy Head’s soulful 1965 hit “Treat Her Right,” sets the tone for an adventurous record that is already making quite a few year-end best of 2015 lists. Gibbons took a break from his minimalistic trio to bring together a new backing band called the BFGs. The handpicked BFGs include two drummers, a percussionist, and two keyboardists who take Gibbons’ bluesy foundation into a whole new world.

Gibbons and his BFGs played to an intimate and incredibly enthusiastic crowd as he seeded the set with stories about the past and the present. While the setlist focused mainly on songs from Perfectamundo, Gibbons couldn’t resist peppering in a ZZ Top classic or two. The band was tight, the grooves were smooth, and the Cuban flavor was a real treat to see performed live.

In 1968 on the Dick Cavett Show, Jimi Hendrix cited Gibbons as his “favorite guitar player,” but at that time nobody could have ever guessed the legacy that the great ZZ Top would achieve. I think it’s only natural that Gibbons would want to continue to evolve his approach, creating interesting music and experimenting much like Hendrix did. Let’s hope he continues to do so.

Opening the show was Tyler Bryant & the Shakedown. I’ve never heard these guys before but they were fantastic. Although they were playing stripped down from their normal full-on rock set (frontman Tyler Bryant commented, “when Billy Gibbons asks you to open his show acoustic, you just do it”), these guys really owned the stage. So much so that at moments I almost forgot that they were in fact playing acoustic.

These guys are a throwback to a sort of Zeppelin style “Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp” bluesy type throwdown with a sort of experimental Black Crowes (at their finest hour) edge. It would be very interesting to see them come back and put on the full on show in a smaller club, maybe alongside someone like the great Rival Sons.