Worldwide Texas Tour Explained

Concert Tour Name:	Worldwide Texas Tour
Artist:	ZZ Top
Location:	United States
Album:	Fandango!, Tejas
Type:	Concert
Number Of Legs:	5
Number Of Shows:	98 (100 scheduled)
Last Tour:	Fandango! Tour (1975–76)
This Tour:	Worldwide Texas Tour (1976–77)
Next Tour:	Expect No Quarter Tour (1979–1981)

The Worldwide Texas Tour was a concert tour by American rock band ZZ Top. Arranged in support of their 1975 album Fandango!, the band visited arenas, stadiums, and auditoriums from 1976 to 1977. The elaborate stage production was designed to bring Texas to national audiences, with regional fauna and flora.

Encompassing five legs and 97 shows, the tour began in Winston-Salem, North Carolina on May 29, 1976, and ended in Fort Worth, Texas on December 31, 1977. The band's 1976 album Tejas, which elaborated on the tour's artistic theme, was recorded during a break in the tour, and its songs were played in 1977. In 2008, Guitar World′s Alan di Perna called it "one of the most ambitious and bizarre tours in all of rock history".^[1]

Background

ZZ Top's 1973 album Tres Hombres and supporting single "La Grange" brought them commercial and critical success in the United States. They gained a reputation as one of the top rock acts in the country and earned them the nickname "that little ol' band from Texas". On September 1, 1974, ZZ Top performed at Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin. The concert—photographs of which were used for their 1975 Fandango! album—was the last at the stadium until the Eagles performed there in 1995, as the artificial turf was damaged by rowdy fans. In 2008, guitarist and vocalist Billy Gibbons recalled the concert as a "great, great event".

Design and production

The Worldwide Texas Tour stage was designed by Bill Narum, who also designed ZZ Top's album covers and tour posters. Whereas ZZ Top had previously used simple productions, the tour stage was an elaborate setup designed to "bring Texas to the people". It included a 63-by-48 foot (19-by-15 m) stage that was tilted at a four-degree angle, which resembled the shape of Texas and weighed 35 tons (70,000 lbs), costing a reported US$100,000. The stage was constructed in a seven-hour process with the help of 40 crew members. The set's backdrop was a 180-foot (55 m) three-dimensional panorama that used five scrims measuring 36-by-20 feet (11-by-6 m), which were hand-painted and individually lit to show dawn and dusk effects.

The presentation also included live animals such as a longhorn steer, black buffalo, two vultures, and two rattlesnakes, and plants such as yucca, agave, and cacti. Over US$140,000 was spent to ensure that the animals were healthy, traveling under the supervision of an animal expert and veterinarian. The set used 260 speakers and 130 light fixtures, using over 136,000 watts of power. A crew of 50 people traveled in a series of 13 vehicles to transport 75 tons (150,000 lbs) of equipment. The entire production and crew were insured for $10 million.

Planning, itinerary, and ticketing

Rehearsals began in May 1976 at Astroarena in Houston. The band and crew spent a week rehearsing the show, constructing and adjusting the stage set. Unlike many of the group's previous tours, which began around the release of a new album, the Worldwide Texas Tour started over a year after Fandango! was released, allowing fans the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the songs. By opening night, the album had already been certified gold in the United States and sold over one million copies in Canada. The first leg of the tour, 30 shows in the US, alternated between stadiums and arenas. It didn't start off well as four days of heavy rain and hailstorms preceded the opening show at Groves Stadium, which decreased ticket sales to 20,000. Concerts in Europe, Japan, Australia, and Mexico were cancelled due to quarantine restrictions for buffalo.

The band's recorded their 1976 album Tejas after the second leg in the tour, and played its songs in 1977. By the time the third US leg began, Tejas had sold more than half a million copies in the US. The leg, which began in February 1977, was the band's first full arena leg of the tour. Tickets for two shows at The Summit in Houston sold out in less than twelve hours.

Ticket prices for outdoor venues were US$8.50 in advance and $10 on the day of the show, while indoor venues were $6 in advance and $7 at the door. At its conclusion, the Worldwide Texas Tour sold over 1.2 million tickets. In 2008, Guitar World′s Alan di Perna called it "one of the most ambitious and bizarre tours in all of rock history".

Tour dates

List of concerts, showing date, city, country, venue, tickets sold, number of available tickets and amount of gross revenue

Date	City	Country	Venue	Opening Act(s)	Attendance	Revenue
Leg 1: arenas and stadiums in the United States
May 29, 1976	Winston-Salem	United States	Groves Stadium	Lynyrd Skynyrd, Point Blank		rowspan="3"
June 2, 1976	Norfolk		Norfolk Scope	Wet Willie	8,309 / 12,000
June 3, 1976	Richmond		Richmond Coliseum
June 5, 1976	Atlanta		Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	Marshall Tucker Band, Elvin Bishop	45,000 / 65,000	$425,000
June 6, 1976	Knoxville		Knoxville Civic Coliseum		rowspan="2"
June 7, 1976	Louisville		Freedom Hall
June 12, 1976	Pittsburgh		Three Rivers Stadium	Aerosmith, Point Blank	47,705 / 65,000	$425,000
June 20, 1976	Jacksonville		Jacksonville Memorial Coliseum	Elvin Bishop, Jay Boy Adams	rowspan="4"
June 23, 1976	Niagara Falls		Niagara Falls Convention Center	Blue Öyster Cult, Starz
June 24, 1976	Binghamton		Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena
June 25, 1976	South Yarmouth		Cape Cod Coliseum	Blue Öyster Cult, Starz
June 26, 1976	Philadelphia		Philadelphia Spectrum	Blue Öyster Cult, Ted Nugent	18,209 / 19,500	$104,568
June 28, 1976	Richfield		Coliseum at Richfield	Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band	rowspan="2"
June 29, 1976	Charleston		Charleston Civic Center	Blue Öyster Cult
July 4, 1976	Memphis		Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium	Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Outlaws	32,000 / 60,000	$320,000
July 9, 1976	Omaha		Omaha Civic Auditorium		rowspan="3"
July 11, 1976	Kansas City		Arrowhead Stadium	Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Jay Boy Adams
July 14, 1976	St. Louis		Kiel Auditorium	Pure Prairie League, Jay Boy Adams
July 17, 1976	New Orleans		Tulane Stadium	The J. Geils Band, Jay Boy Adams	51,000 / 60,000	$500,000
July 21, 1976	Duluth		Duluth Arena Auditorium		rowspan="5"
July 23, 1976	Milwaukee		MECCA Arena
July 25, 1976	South Bend		Athletic & Convocation Center
July 26, 1976	Clarkston		Pine Knob Music Theatre	REO Speedwagon
July 27, 1976
August 1, 1976	Denver		McNichols Sports Arena	Blue Öyster Cult, The Outlaws	17,102 / 17,102	$136,816
August 4, 1976	Albuquerque		Tingley Coliseum	Jay Boy Adams
August 7, 1976	Anaheim		Anaheim Stadium	Blue Öyster Cult, Johnny & Edgar Winter	49,169 / 60,000	$498,040
August 9, 1976	San Diego		San Diego Stadium		rowspan="2"
August 10, 1976	Fresno		Selland Arena
August 14, 1976	Daly City		Cow Palace	Ted Nugent	14,500 / 14,500	$79,844
Leg 2: arenas and stadiums in the United States
September 10, 1976	Waterloo	United States	McElroy Auditorium	The Boys	5,000 / 7,000	$24,900
September 11, 1976	Bloomington		Metropolitan Sports Center	Pure Prairie League, Jay Boy Adams	rowspan="8"
September 12, 1976	Detroit		Cobo Center
September 17, 1976	Bismarck		Bismarck Civic Center	REO Speedwagon	4,200 / 8,000
September 18, 1976	Billings		Yellowstone METRA		10,086 / 13,000
September 19, 1976	Laramie		War Memorial Fieldhouse		rowspan="7"
September 21, 1976	Salt Lake City		Salt Palace	Roadwork
September 22, 1976	Las Vegas		Las Vegas Convention Center
September 24, 1976	Tucson		Tucson Community Center
September 25, 1976	Nashville			The Band, Cate Brothers	$13,744
September 30, 1976	Lakeland		Lakeland Civic Center	Point Blank	rowspan="2"
October 2, 1976	Hollywood		Hollywood Sportatorium
October 9, 1976	Tallahassee		Doak Campbell Stadium	Wet Willie, Point Blank	11,600 / 40,500	$82,000
October 14, 1976	Dayton		University of Dayton Arena	Wet Willie		rowspan="10"
October 16, 1976	Charlotte		Charlotte Coliseum	Styx	13,500 / 13,500
October 17, 1976	Columbia		Carolina Coliseum		rowspan="2"
October 21, 1976	Portland		Portland Memorial Coliseum	Elvin Bishop
October 22, 1976	Spokane		Spokane Coliseum		6,506 / 8,500
October 23, 1976	Seattle		Seattle Center Coliseum
October 28, 1976	Pocatello		ASISU MiniDome		7,368 / 12,000
October 31, 1976	Kansas City		Kansas City Municipal Auditorium	Rory Gallagher	rowspan="3"
November 2, 1976	Oklahoma City		Oklahoma State Fair Arena
November 4, 1976	Wichita		Levitt Arena	The Fools
November 7, 1976	Evansville		Roberts Municipal Stadium		8,007 / 12,732	$51,686
November 9, 1976	Toledo		Toledo Sports Arena	Montrose	rowspan="7"
November 11, 1976	Landover		Capital Centre	Styx, Elvin Bishop
November 25, 1976	Houston		The Summit	Rory Gallagher
November 26, 1976
November 27, 1976	Fort Worth		Tarrant County Convention Center
November 28, 1976
November 30, 1976	Tulsa		Tulsa Assembly Center	Pure Prairie League
Leg 3: arenas and auditoriums in the United States
February 16, 1977	Madison	United States	Dane County Memorial Coliseum	Head East	rowspan="4"
February 17, 1977	Indianapolis		Market Square Arena	Elvin Bishop
February 19, 1977	Chicago		Chicago Stadium	Atlanta Rhythm Section
February 22, 1977	Fort Wayne		Allen County War Memorial Coliseum
February 23, 1977	Cincinnati		Riverfront Coliseum	Cate Brothers	11,951 / 17,556	$78,764
February 24, 1977	Detroit		Cobo Center	Atlanta Rhythm Section		rowspan="19"
March 3, 1977	Portland		Cumberland County Civic Center	The Blend	7,489 / 9,500
March 8, 1977	Binghamton		Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena	The Dictators	rowspan="17"
March 9, 1977	Springfield		Springfield Civic Center	Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band
March 16, 1977	Boston		Boston Garden	Santana
March 17, 1977
March 19, 1977	Jackson		Mississippi Coliseum	Point Blank
March 23, 1977	Lake Charles		Lake Charles Civic Center
March 25, 1977	Springfield		Hammons Center Arena
March 26, 1977	Lincoln		Pershing Auditorium	Styx
March 27, 1977	Normal		Horton Fieldhouse	Point Blank
April 1, 1977	Savannah		Savannah Civic Center
April 2, 1977	Mobile		Mobile Municipal Auditorium
April 3, 1977	Birmingham		Birmingham–Jefferson Civic Center
April 7, 1977	Richmond		Richmond Coliseum	Nils Lofgren
April 8, 1977	Hampton		Hampton Coliseum	Atlanta Rhythm Section, Nils Lofgren
April 9, 1977	Greensboro		Greensboro Coliseum	Nils Lofgren
April 10, 1977	Roanoke		Roanoke Civic Center	The Outlaws
April 13, 1977	Kalamazoo		Wings Stadium	Rush
April 15, 1977	Johnson City		Freedom Hall Civic Center	Blackfoot	5,688 / 8,500	$39,501
April 16, 1977	Clemson		Littlejohn Coliseum		rowspan="4"
April 18, 1977	Columbia		Hearnes Center
April 21, 1977	Rochester		Rochester Community War Memorial	Pure Prairie League
April 23, 1977	Manchester		John F. Kennedy Memorial Coliseum	The Dictators
April 24, 1977	Waterbury		Palace Theater	Piper	3,800 / 3,800	$28,500
April 30, 1977	Providence		Providence Civic Center	Foghat	rowspan="3"
May 6, 1977	Hays		Gross Memorial Coliseum
May 7, 1977	Lawrence		Allen Fieldhouse	Foreigner
Leg 4: arenas and auditoriums in the United States
June 7, 1977	Albuquerque	United States	Tingley Coliseum	Pure Prairie League, Climax Blues Band	rowspan="5"
June 8, 1977	Tucson		Tucson Community Center
June 9, 1977	Tempe		ASU Activity Center
June 11, 1977	Inglewood		Inglewood Forum	Elvin Bishop
June 14, 1977	Bakersfield		Bakersfield Civic Auditorium
June 15, 1977	San Diego		San Diego Sports Arena		9,921 / 14,800	$65,768
June 18, 1977	El Paso		El Paso County Coliseum	Point Blank	rowspan="3"
June 21, 1977	Fresno		Selland Arena	Elvin Bishop
June 22, 1977	San Bernardino		Swing Auditorium
June 24, 1977	Daly City		Cow Palace		9,167 / 14,000	$62,039
July 1, 1977	Honolulu		Neal S. Blaisdell Center	Yellow Rose Band	rowspan="4"
July 2, 1977
July 9, 1977	Fargo		North Dakota State University
July 10, 1977	Rapid City		Rushmore Plaza Civic Center	Burton Cummings
Leg 5: arenas and auditoriums in the United States
December 28, 1977	Shreveport	United States	Hirsch Memorial Coliseum	Sea Level	rowspan="5"
December 29, 1977	Abilene		Taylor County Expo Center	Muddy Waters, Jay Boy Adams
December 30, 1977	San Antonio		San Antonio Convention Center	Muddy Waters, The Fools
December 31, 1977	Fort Worth		Tarrant County Convention Center	Muddy Waters
January 1, 1978	Amarillo		Amarillo Civic Center

References

• Billy Gibbons, Musician. Texas Monthly Talks. Texas Monthly Talks. PBS. KLRU-TV. Austin. April 24, 2008. 6. 141. 14:02-14:33. .
• Clark, Stuart. ZZ Living. Hot Press. January 26, 1994. CITEREFClark1994.
• News: Gray, Chris. R.I.P. Bill Narum, KLOL Co-Founder, Leading Texas Counterculture Artist and ZZ Top Stage Designer. Houston Press. November 19, 2009. CITEREFGray2009.
• Hinchliffe, Jon. These Men Are Not As Daft As They Look. Kerrang!. September 1981. 1. 3. 31. .
• Longhorns Host Eagles. The Alcalde. May 1995. 83. 5. 31. .
• Orb, Maureen. ZZ Top tour is the largest in rock history. Newsweek. 1976. CITEREFOrb1976.
• ZZ Top global trek has $20 mil potential. Billboard. June 12, 1976. .

Notes and References

1. ZZ Top: Cars, Guitars, & Three Unlikely Rock Stars. Alan. di Perna. Guitar World. July 2008. 29. 7.