On June 12, 1976, ZZ Top's Worldwide Texas Tour was at Three Rivers Stadium, and it was probably one of the craziest shows to ever to hit the city of Pittsburgh!
Scott Mervis at the Post Gazette wrote a great article back in 2009 about the show in which he said was the "hands-down winner for the city's craziest show ever."
The band had a longhorn steer on stage, rattlesnakes, an armadillo, and a bison. Seriously! Check out the videos below featuring a behind the scenes look at the tour, and a ton of B-roll footage from CBS news that includes ZZ Top on stage. As you can see, their beards weren't nearly as long as they are now back then.
According to the article on the Post Gazette website, the headlines the next day read “250 injured” among a crowd that was estimated to be as high as 70,000. The security force for the concert was 160, which was more than 4 times the amount of security guards needed at a Steelers game in 1976.
Links to the articles below. Both are definitely worth checking out, as is another article I dug up from loudersound.com that features the band talking about the entire tour, with a lengthy conversation about the Pittsburgh show, which is where the bison got loose, and opening act Aerosmith trashed the Winnebagos that were brought in for their dressing rooms.
In that one, Billy Gibbons is quoted as saying, “The next day was a (Pirates) game, and the players complained because the animals had gotten loose and put divots in the field." He joked, "Hey, your buffalo just escaped and he’s making third base!”
Read the 2009 Post Gazette Article Here
Read the 2019 Post Gazette Article Here
ZZ Top is at Star Lake tonight (9/11/19) with Cheap Trick. Details below:
- Lots open at 4pm
- Gates open at 6pm
- Show starts at 7p with Marquise Knox, a super talented blues musician
- Cheap Trick goes on at 7:45
- ZZ Top takes the stage at 9:20
- No bison, cattle or rattlesnake are expected to be part of the show tonight! HAHA!
BEHIND THE SCENES VIDEO
CBS NEWS B-ROLL FOOTAGE