ZZ Top Announces ‘Tonnage Tour’

ZZ Top will continue doing what it does best in 2017 by delivering its special brand of blues rock to cities across the U.S.A. Announced today, the “Tonnage Tour” includes gigs in the South, Northeast and Midwest.

The tour is named after “Sixteen Tons,” Tennessee Ernie Ford’s hit from 1956. As ZZ Top’s website explains, a mysterious YouTube video of the song posted years ago was falsely attributed to the band and Jeff Beck. Although it was a case of mistaken identity, the song has now become a staple of ZZ Top’s live sets and the band also recorded a heavy rock version with Beck for its new live album, Live! Greatest Hits From Around The World. Released in September, the album boasts 15 tracks recorded in 13 cities across three continents. Along with “Sixteen Tons,” Beck also contributes to the song “Rough Boy.”

Photo: Jonathan Short/Invision/AP

Glastonbury Music Festival at Worthy Farm, in Somerset, England.

Here’s the routing for the February-March excursion:

Feb. 19 – Greenville, S.C., Peace Center Concert Hall
Feb. 22 – Nashville, Tenn., Ryman Auditorium
Feb. 24 – Louisville, Ky., The Louisville Palace Theatre
Feb. 25 – Northfield, Ohio, Hard Rock Live
Feb. 26 – Schenectady, N.Y., Proctors
March 3 – Atlantic City, N.J., Caesars Circus Maximus Theater
March 4 – Shippensburg, Pa., H. Ric Luhrs Performing Arts Center
March 5 – Oxon Hill, Md., MGM National Harbor
March 11 – Lake Charles, La., Golden Nugget
March 14 – Macon, Ga., Macon City Auditorium

“It’s gonna be a good time,” Billy Gibbons said. “We’ve been at this long enough that we’re starting to get good. Come and see us; it’s gonna be loud and live.”

A Tres Hombres presale for Atlantic City and Washington, D.C., begins Nov. 1, followed by the general onsale Nov. 4. Onsales for Shippensburg and Lake Charles haven’t been announced yet. As for the rest of the dates, presales begin Oct. 25 and the public onsale is Oct. 28. All onsales start at 10 a.m. local time.

Visit ZZTop.com for more details.