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Check out “Legs” and grab some “Tush!”

That little ol’ band from Texas, ZZ Top, finally bit the bullet and released their first live concert on DVD. Of course, there was only one state in the world that they could perform and that was The Lone Star State – Texas. Live From Texas was shot at the Nokia Theater in Grand Prairie (suburb of Dallas) in November of 2007. I actually planned on attending this concert and couldn’t get out of my real job on time. So, instead of seeing this trio of entertaining guys live once again, I am relegated to reviewing the DVD. But what a cool DVD it is! The images are bright, sharp, colorful and clear.

The group still consists of the original members, the Rev. Billy Gibbons on guitar, Dusty Hill on Bass and Frank Beard on drums. An amazing feat after nearly 40 years. What other band can you think of who can make that claim? And even though they come across as a bunch of good ol’ boys, they play their brand of Texas blues on a very high tech stage. A large, semi-circular video wall flashing images runs along the back; the staircase arrangement of amps on either side of the hotrod decked out drum set have video screens as a frontispiece. Even the mic stands look like hot steel mesh side pipes from a hotrod, reflecting the various colors of the lights and coming to life.

Then there are the custom-made guitars. As a matter of fact, one of the special features is “Dallas Show Day” which has footage of the band backstage, setting up the stage and an interview with both their guitar tech, who has been with them from the beginning, and the creator of those infamous guitars.

The band hits the stage with “Got Me Under Pressure.” They aren’t moving as fast as they used to, but they still have the cool choreographed moves down and are as sharp as ever. Gibbons voice is a little grittier and a bit scratchier than the last time I saw them a few years back, but quite honestly, it makes him sound a little more like some of the old black bluesmen such as Howling Wolf and John Lee Hooker. As usual, with their glasses and style, ZZ Top just exudes coolness and the voice improves upon that.

“Waitin’ For The Bus/Jesus Just Left Chicago” gets the packed house really amped up. Then the show continues with a lot of their major hits. One of my faves is “Heard It On The X,” which the band expounds upon, along with a lot of other retellings of the early days, in the nice book insert that comes with the DVD.

The ballad, “Rough Boy,” is one of the longest performances on the disc. This is where the soulful, bluesy playing really comes out. “Blue Jean Blues,” another great rocking blues piece, follows it.

There are plenty of hits from Eliminator and Afterburner for those of you who got into the band during the MTV era. There are also a lot of cool songs like “Tube Snake Boogie” and “La Grange.” The band returns for an encore of the one and only “Tush.”

The only song I wasn’t thrilled with was “Pincushion.”  Not because they did anything wrong, but it’s just not one of my favorites. I would have much rather heard “Party On The Patio,” “Mexican Blackbird” or from the same album as “Pincushion,” “TV Dinners.”

The special features also include footage from a photo shoot, which looks like it may have been shot at the set from the “The Alamo” or some mission that is very similar.

There is a nice, lengthy discussion between the band members as they play poker and a little craps. They talk about the old days, how they met, things they had to borrow to make shows happen and Billy’s days with Moving Sidewalks and Jimi Hendrix.

The final selection on the disc is a live performance of ZZ Top playing “Foxey Lady.” It sounds a little different in style and tempo as they put the ZZ Top brand on it, but it’s still a prize bull.

ZZ Top: Live From Texas runs just over 2 hours, is widescreen, has subtitles for the bonus features in English, French and Spanish complete with Dolby Digital Stereo or 5.1 Surround. It’s also available on Blu Ray.

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