ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons Played 3 Songs on His Opening Tour Night – Fans Pissed

UPDATE: 01/12/2018 A spokesperson for ZZ Top guitarist Billy Gibbons says the negative stories about his Up Close & Personal shows in Australia were a result of improper promotion.

A statement reads, in part, "Mr. Gibbons was contracted to appear on those dates to discuss his passion for custom cars and hot rods, and to sign autographs and greet fans with no musical component called for or anticipated in the arrangement... Based on that understanding, he didn’t even bring, nor did he request musical equipment appropriate to such a performance. It appears that these dates were promoted in such a way as miscommunication to ticket holders that a substantial musical performance would be part of these events. Billy Gibbons...regrets that his role in those dates appears to have been grossly misstated."

The pushback came after Gibbons performed just a very handful of songs over three shows. At the third show, he got pelted with debris from the audience, and so the fourth show was canceled.

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Original story posted 01/10/2018: ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons performed (sort of) in Australia over the weekend. Understandably, concert goers were a little pissed.

At Anita's Theatre in Thirroul he did just three songs on the first night of his "Up Close and Personal" tour, followed by four on the second night at the same venue!

The venue, who was tagged in many irate posts, placed the blame squarely on Gibbons:

"We will be passing the comments onto the promoter and the artist, in the hope for a more entertaining performance for the people attending the upcoming shows in Newcastle and Brisbane. We would like to inform our patrons that Anita’s plays no part in the artistic presentation that takes place on the stage... What takes place on the stage is out of our control. When booking acts, we are sold on an idea or a concept and can not control if that idea is not fulfilled to its greatest potential."

How many tickets is he really hoping to sell for the rest of the tour? We only have one side of this story as Gibbons hasn't responded to media about the incident at this press time.

Don't get me wrong: I'm a Gibbons fan. Have been since the 70's but help us understand how this can happen.

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