ZZ Top w/ Cheap Trick

The Read

ZZ Top have been running the same joke for fifty years — Texas boogie played with total precision under a layer of deadpan showmanship — and Billy Gibbons remains one of the great tone players regardless of the beards and the choreography. Cheap Trick are arguably the better band on paper: Rick Nielsen’s guitar and Robin Zander’s voice built a run of power-pop singles that nobody has improved on since. Ascend is outdoors on the Cumberland with downtown behind the stage, and a double bill like this is the correct use of it. Neither band is going to overstay or overreach. Expect tight sets, expect the hits in something close to their recorded form, expect the lawn to be full of people who bought these records the first time and people who found them through a movie soundtrack.

The Venue

Ascend Amphitheater

310 1st Ave S

A downtown outdoor room on the riverfront that earns its keep during summer touring season — lawn and reserved seating, the Cumberland at your back.