The Reverend pre MTV

I finally saw ZZ Top live this past New Year's Eve at the Choctaw Casino in Oklahoma:




Post the world coming to an end for Covid, hopefully I'll get to see another concert eventually.

 

why do bands still do the fake "wall of amps" thing?

 

Might be shopped, might not.

 

It's ZZ Top; complete with the larger-than-life comic book/MTV/Spinal Tap vibe. For the last song, Billy Gibbon's guitar tech walked onstage, inserted a cigarillo in his mouth, and lit it, mid-guitar solo.

 

"why do bands still do the fake "wall of amps" thing?"

Because of union rules. More stuff = more people necessary


Multiple fake Marshalls in the front, and one real Engl (with hot spare) in the back:

 

Seriously, it's because it's what the audience expects.

A 1x12 combo in a bar is rock and roll.

A 1x12 combo on a 40-foot stage is Guitar Center.



If you're a dude and you've ever moved with a wife/GF/SO from a furnished apartment to an unfurnished house, you understand completely:

Wife/GF/SO: "Look at all this room! I'm going furniture shopping!"

 

I would expect at least a red led to show that the amps are on !

 

For some reason the wall of amps lends credibility in the eyes of the audience...? I have heard more than once that an opening band with the wall of amps looked more legit than the headliner with a single half stack or combo on the stage.

As a drummer, I mainly play an electric drumset- saves my ears, and our whole band runs direct through a monitor mixer for practice, so it's much more family and neighbor friendly. However, I have a serious aversion to playing live shows with my electric kit because I'm afraid of how the audience will perceive me. It's crazy, I know.

 

I've gotten to see ZZ live three times since 2004. They don't disappoint.

 

Rock and roll image. People pay for a show, the backdrop is part of the entertainment.

 

Wall of amps- my favorite band for this is Rush, who have had a) washing machines; b) chicken rotisseries, and c) weird steampunk mechanical sculptures. I like that they were in on the joke...

 

They do have a red LED; it's battery powered and lasts the entire tour because the LED draws such low currrent.

Marshall sells these 'facade' amps, but you'll not see them in any of their retail catalogs.

 

The very first time I saw ZZ Top was late sixties/early seventies.....no one had heard of them. Small club in Ft Worth called the Circus. Billy had about a two or three inch beard, Dusty had a Fu Manchu but no beard......ironically, Frank Beard had NO beard. () They really were just a little blues band from Texas. We enjoyed them, although didn't think they were anything special......or suspect what was to come.

 

Isn't "the fake wall of amps" thing a combination of "it's expected for a guitar band," and massive improvements in PA systems and monitoring requiring less nuclear firepower from the amp backline?

 

Is it not where the tech operators and gear hide?

 

Love BFG but his wall of amps makes more sense to me than his wearing two hats one on top of the other, or his fur covered guitars.

 

Never been a big fan of these guys, probably due to to coming of age in the UK in the early 80's (Legs anybody?).
I really enjoyed that, time to backtrack.....