If you ever watch my dash cam videos and wonder what's playing on my radio, it's usually classic rock. There's so many great bands that it makes it easy to find something good to listen to while I'm driving. Some of the bands have even motivated me to take road trips like when I went to La Grange or China Grove.
When Victoria saw an ad on Facebook for ZZ Top, Bad Company, and Cheap Trick playing together, she knew it would be the perfect concert for me to go to. We bought two tickets well in advance and planned to make a weekend out of going to The Woodlands (Houston).
When the time came, that weekend looked like it might be a wet one.
We didn't care. This was going to be an amazing concert! I put some ZZ Top on in the car and we hit the road. It was a bit cloudy and looking like it could rain.
We planned to get lunch along the way. ZZ Top is 100% Texas, so what better way to embrace Texas than to stop at Southside Market, its oldest BBQ joint!
The BBQ was great and we soon hit the road again. The clouds did become a bit more threatening and it rained on and off.
We made it to The Woodlands and then made a quick pitstop at our hotel.
Soon we were off to the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion for the concert.
I could tell the truck in front of us was a huge ZZ Top fan judging by their license plate.
The nice thing about the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion is parking is free. I backed the car in so I could easily get out of the spot and we parked close to the exit.
We made it inside and took our picture by the Bud Light sign. Of course, I was wearing my Hamm's shirt.
Another awesome thing about the venue is they had a place to refill water bottles. Being that we were in the Houston area, it was pretty warm and humid. Water was the smart drink of choice!
We took our seat and took a selfie.
Cheap Trick soon came on the stage!
There was some guy a few rows ahead of us who must have not known the rock horns and kept throwing up the peace symbol throughout the concert.
Throughout the concert Rick Nielsen kept changing guitars. It was cool to see him with his five-necked guitar.
Cheap Trick put on a great show! They were high energy and rocking hard. I've always wanted to see them in concert and I was glad I was able to. They are actually one of my favorite bands and I've listened to them a ton. My buddy Ryan in Canada is always quizzing me on his radio show at CILU about seeing Cheap Trick and I always had to say I haven't seen them live yet. Now I can say I have!
There was a little intermission between sets.
That intermission didn't last long and Bad Company came out.
For the encore, Paul Rodgers dug deep into his discography to his former band Free. He played the hit, “All Right Now.”
Bad Company really blew me away. I have a CD or two of theirs but I haven't listened to them as heavily as I did Cheap Trick or ZZ Top. Paul Rodgers was dead on with his singing. To be honest I wasn't expecting them to be as good as they were live. They really blew my expectations out of the water!
After Bad Company was done, the rain hit kind of hard. Lucky we got seat under the covered part of the amphitheater and weren't getting soaked like they were in the lawn seats!
Come rain or shine the headliner, ZZ Top, took the stage.
ZZ Top also put on a great show. The only thing I hated was the fact they played a lot of their hits from the 80's, which sound very similar. Don't get me wrong, they're great songs, but I like a lot of their deep cut stuff, especially from the early days. I know the hits are what made them famous and what filled up this arena, but they sound generic compared to stuff from Rio Grande Mud or other early albums. With that being said, beggars can't be choosers, and the set they put on was amazing!
What made it more amazing to see them is this was their 50th Anniversary tour and Houston is where it all started!
All 3 bands put on a great show. It was truly awesome to be able to see it all. After the concert, we had to fight the crowds and rain to get back to the car.
We drove to Watergate Square and then had a really late dinner with Victoria's aunt and uncle at The Gooses Acre.
It was late and we were tired. We went to bed right away and ended up sleeping in to the point we missed the free breakfast at the hotel. That didn't matter because we checked out and went to Mi Rancho. We met Victoria's aunt and uncle there for brunch.
After eating, it was time to head back to Austin. We got to drive Houston-style and made good time back home. It was definitely hot when we got back!
I can say this trip was awesome! I've always wanted to see ZZ Top and Cheap Trick in concert and I got my wish there. Bad Company ended up blowing me away with their performance and I'd love to see them live again. The venue was also great and I could see myself coming back to more concerts there as long as it doesn't get too hot and humid. Hopefully, Facebook keeps serving these kind of ads because that ad was the start to this awesome adventure!
The following is a list of all the individual blog entries of all the places I visited on this trip.