The El Camino Ocho Tour was a concert tour through North America and Europe, undertaken by American rock band ZZ Top. The tour's concerts were performed in casinos and fairs from May through September 2008. Band members Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill dressed in black biker jackets, along with baseball caps and boots. The El Camino Ocho Tour consisted of three legs and 60 shows. Some of the tour was depicted in the concert film Double Down Live.

El Camino Ocho Tour
Tour by ZZ Top
Location
  • North America
  • Europe
Start dateMay 2, 2008 (2008-05-02)
End dateSeptember 9, 2008 (2008-09-09)
Legs3
No. of shows60
ZZ Top concert chronology

Concert overview

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Out of the 60 shows performed, each had a similar set list, with 16–21 songs performed. The concerts usually began with techno music played through the PA system, during which the band would walk on stage and begin the show.

Main set

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The first leg of the tour opened with "Gimme All Your Lovin'", while the second and third legs opened with "Got Me Under Pressure". Following the opener, the band performed "Waitin' for the Bus", "Jesus Just Left Chicago", "Chevrolet", and "Pincushion". Every show featured "I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide", along with "Heard It on the X", "Just Got Paid", "I Need You Tonight", "Cheap Sunglasses", and "Planet of Women". "Sharp Dressed Man" and "Legs" were also included.

Encores

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The encores typically started with "Tube Snake Boogie". This segued into a medley of "La Grange", "Sloppy Drunk Blues", and "Bar-B-Q". The encores usually closed out with "Tush". "Jailhouse Rock" was also occasionally performed.

Additional songs

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A total of 24 different songs were played throughout the tour. "My Head's In Mississippi" was featured as a snippet for a few shows. "I Thank You" was played for the first nine concerts. "It's Only Love" from the Tejas album was eventually dropped from the main set due to technical errors.[1]

Reception

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Despite the fact that the band didn't have a new album to tour with, El Camino Ocho received generally positive reviews. Many reviews did state Gibbons' voice as being "gruff"[2] or "throaty-sounding",[3] and compared to "road gravel".[1] His guitar playing, however, was well received by audiences. The Toronto Sun gave a rating of 4 out of 5 for the concert on August 24, 2008.[3]

Post-tour

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Double Down Live

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The tour was filmed for future DVD release by Jamie Burton Chamberlin. In October 2009, Eagle Vision released Double Down Live, which combined footage from the tour, and featured 4 of the 11 songs being filmed during the tour. An interview was included in the DVD, filmed before the concert at Zénith de Paris.

Tour dates

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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)
Leg 1: North America
May 2, 2008 Bossier City United States Horseshoe Bossier City
May 7, 2008 Tucson AVA Amphitheater Rosie Flores
May 9, 2008 Dixon Dixon May Fair
May 10, 2008 Valley Center Harrah's Rincon
May 15, 2008 Austin The Backyard Rosie Flores
May 16, 2008 Corpus Christi American Bank Center Arena Sun Salutation
May 22, 2008 St. Augustine St. Augustine Amphitheatre Blackberry Smoke
May 23, 2008 Orange Beach The Amphitheater at the Wharf 38 Special
May 24, 2008 Robinsonville Harrah's Casino Tunica
May 25, 2008 Little Rock RiverFest 38 Special, Bucket of Blues
May 29, 2008 Pelham Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre Zac Brown Band
May 30, 2008 Johnson City Freedom Hall Civic Center Joe Diffie
May 31, 2008 Fort Knox Godman Army Airfield Blackberry Smoke
June 3, 2008 Knoxville Tennessee Theatre
June 5, 2008 Marksville Paragon Casino Resort
June 6, 2008 Enterprise BamaJam Trace Adkins, Tracy Lawrence
June 7, 2008 Atlanta Chastain Park Amphitheatre Zac Brown Band
June 8, 2008 North Charleston North Charleston Coliseum Blackberry Smoke
June 12, 2008 Chattanooga Riverbend Festival Steel Mill
June 13, 2008 Jackson Jubilee! Jam Blind Melon, Eric Church
June 14, 2008 Valdosta Wild Adventures Blackberry Smoke
June 17, 2008 Solomons Calvert Marine Museum
June 19, 2008 Gilford Meadowbrook U.S. Cellular Pavilion
June 20, 2008 Wallingford Chevrolet Theatre
June 21, 2008 Rutland Vermont State Fairgrounds
June 22, 2008 Aberdeen Aberdeen Proving Ground
Leg 2: Europe
July 4, 2008 Porto Portugal Parque da Cidade Love and Rockets, David Fonseca
July 6, 2008 Bilbao Spain Bilbao BBK Live Riders on the Storm, The Blues Brothers
July 7, 2008 Carcassonne France Théâtre Jean-Deschamps
July 8, 2008 Lyon Halle Tony Garnier
July 10, 2008 Paris Zénith de Paris
July 11, 2008 Bonn Germany Museumsmeile
July 12, 2008 Potsdam Lustwiese Thin Lizzy, Free
July 13, 2008 Weert Netherlands Bospop Europe, Ted Nugent
July 15, 2008 Differdange Luxembourg Aréna du Centenaire Lance Lopez
July 16, 2008 Singen Germany Hohentwielfestival
July 18, 2008 Carhaix France Vieilles Charrues Festival Christophe Maé, Yael Naim
July 20, 2008 Six-Fours-les-Plages Festival Les Voix du Gaou Steve Lukather
July 21, 2008 Monte Carlo Monaco Sporting Summer Festival
Leg 3: North America
August 1, 2008 Albuquerque United States Journal Pavilion Brooks & Dunn, Rodney Atkins
August 2, 2008 Phoenix Cricket Wireless Pavilion
August 3, 2008 San Bernardino San Manuel Amphitheater
August 5, 2008 Nampa Idaho Center Amphitheater Steve Richard
August 7, 2008 Sturgis Buffalo Chip Campground Sugarland
August 8, 2008 Vancouver Canada General Motors Place Rodney Atkins
August 9, 2008 Auburn United States White River Amphitheatre Brooks & Dunn, Rodney Atkins
August 14, 2008 Louisville Freedom Hall
August 15, 2008 Springfield Illinois State Fairgrounds Grandstand Brooks & Dunn, Heidi Newfield
August 16, 2008 Omaha Qwest Center Omaha Brooks & Dunn, Justin Moore
August 17, 2008 Oklahoma City Ford Center Brooks & Dunn, Rodney Atkins
August 23, 2008 Clarkston DTE Energy Music Theatre
August 24, 2008 Toronto Canada Molson Canadian Amphitheatre
August 25, 2008 Syracuse United States Mohegan Sun Grandstand Brooks & Dunn, James Otto
August 26, 2008 Allentown Allentown Fairgrounds
August 29, 2008 Milwaukee Henry Maier Festival Park Gary Allan, Fisher Stevenson
August 31, 2008 Fort Leonard Wood Fort Leonard Wood Bowling for Soup
September 5, 2008 Charlotte Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre Rodney Atkins
September 6, 2008 Raleigh Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion Brooks & Dunn, Rodney Atkins
September 7, 2008 Charlottesville John Paul Jones Arena Rodney Atkins
September 9, 2008 York York Fairgrounds
Leg 4: North America ("In Your Face")
September 26, 2008 Wichita United States Century II Concert Hall Blackberry Smoke
September 27, 2008 Fort Smith Fort Smith Convention Center
September 28, 2008 Tulsa SpiritBank Event Center
September 30, 2008 St. Louis Fox Theatre
October 1, 2008 Kansas City Midland Theatre
October 3, 2008 Nashville Ryman Auditorium
October 4, 2008 Huntington Keith-Albee Theatre
October 5, 2008 Cleveland Allen Theatre
October 10, 2008 Columbus Palace Theatre
October 11, 2008 Indianapolis Murat Theatre
October 12, 2008 Milwaukee Riverside Theater
October 15, 2008 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Pavilion Brooks & Dunn, Rodney Atkins
October 16, 2008 Tinley Park First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre
October 17, 2008 Minneapolis Orpheum Theatre Blackberry Smoke
October 18, 2008 Grand Forks Chester Fritz Auditorium
October 19, 2008 Sioux Falls Washington Pavilion of Arts and Science
October 22, 2008 Portland Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
October 23, 2008 Pullman Beasley Coliseum
October 26, 2008 Pomona Fairplex The Tubes, Georgia Satellites
October 30, 2008 Colorado Springs Pikes Peak Center Blackberry Smoke
October 31, 2008 Denver Paramount Theatre
November 1, 2008 Amarillo Amarillo Civic Center Auditorium

References

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  1. ^ a b Beets, Greg (May 23, 2008). "Texas Platters – ZZ Top: Backyard, May 15". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved December 13, 2010.
  2. ^ Grant, Devin (June 12, 2008). "ZZ Top blows the roof off the PAC". The Post and Courier. Charleston, South Carolina. Retrieved December 13, 2010.
  3. ^ a b Stevenson, Jane (August 25, 2008). "ZZ Top going strong". Toronto Sun. Archived from the original on January 15, 2013. Retrieved December 13, 2010.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
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