XXX Tour

The XXX Tour was a worldwide concert tour by American rock band ZZ Top. Staged in support of their 1999 album XXX, the tour visited arenas and stadiums from 1999 to 2002. With five legs and 134 shows, the tour began in Denver, Colorado on September 12, 1999 and ended on November 1, 2002 in London, England. The first two legs took place in the United States before the next leg visited Australasia. After three legs, the band was initially expected to tour Europe, but the European leg was postponed until over two years later, which was branded as "Euro-Afrique". Although the tour provoked a range of reactions from critics, it was generally well received.

XXX Tour

World tour by ZZ Top
Location	United States Australasia Europe
Associated album	XXX
Start date	September 12, 1999
End date	November 1, 2002
Legs	5
No. of shows	134
ZZ Top concert chronology
Continental Safari Tour (1996–97) XXX Tour (1999–2002) Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers Tour (2003–04)

Background

ZZ Top's 1996 album Rhythmeen and the supporting Continental Safari Tour brought them to new audiences, particularly in South Africa. Unlike their previous tours, Continental Safari was a minimalistic, sparse production. According to a press release, guitarist and vocalist Billy Gibbons described the tour's production as a "no-frills, full-thrill presentation—streamlined and down and gritty", further acknowledging, "ZZ Top drives it home with a meaner rhythm than ever before." Although their 1997 Mean Rhythm Global Tour did not visit Europe, they performed over 170 shows in support of Rhythmeen.

Stage design and production

The XXX Tour stage was designed by Chris Stuba, ZZ Top's lighting director. To design the set, Stuba collaborated with longtime production manager Donny Stuart stage set. In place of ZZ Top's elaborate productions of the past, the XXX Tour stage was a simple setup, designed to be intimate. The set included a 48-by-30 foot (15 by 9 m) stage, and was supplemented by giant stretch fabric fixtures, known as Transformits, and were made into geometric shapes, which showed various visuals, including the "XXX" logo behind the stage; for any in-the-round venues, the Transformits were not used. Stuba faced the challenge of designing a lighting system to suit both ZZ Top and Lynyrd Skynyrd, the opening act for most of the tour; both bands used the same wash lights.^[1] The set used 87 automated luminaries and 180 PAR lamps, emitting much heat in which the band favored. Stuba explained:

Because the band has literally grown up with conventional lights, they tell me they play better when they 'feel the heat'. They like a really hot stage. The story is they had so many PARs they couldn't move the drum riser until a half hour after the show because it was so hot. They like it that way, and as more conventional lighting goes away and more automated lighting comes into play, a lot of newer bands have no idea what it's like to play under a 150-degree stage. It's an observation we've made about the whole thing, from Billy's point of view. The way we discovered this was, I was running moving light cues and Billy was saying there was something missing and he couldn't put his finger on it. And it came to turn out that it was just the heat factor. He missed the heat. I was pretty shocked hearing that and didn't give it much thought myself until he pointed that out. Our cues now have more PARs in them just for that reason. If they're happy with the heat and they don't think about it and it's the norm, then in turn they probably do play better.^[1]

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 in the United States^[2]
September 12, 1999	Denver	United States	McNichols Sports Arena	The Groove Hawgs	—	—
September 15, 1999	Pensacola		Pensacola Civic Center	Lynyrd Skynyrd, Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies
September 17, 1999	Orlando		Orlando Arena
September 18, 1999	Fort Lauderdale		National Car Rental Center
September 19, 1999	Gainesville		O'Connell Center	Lynyrd Skynyrd
September 21, 1999	Greenville		Bi-Lo Center	Lynyrd Skynyrd, Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies
September 22, 1999	Greensboro		Greensboro Coliseum		6,822 / 23,500
September 24, 1999	Charlotte		Charlotte Coliseum		—
September 25, 1999	Birmingham		Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center Arena
September 26, 1999	Knoxville		Thompson–Boling Arena
September 28, 1999	Atlanta		Philips Arena
September 29, 1999	Roanoke		Roanoke Civic Center		9,408 / 9,828
October 1, 1999	Hampton		Hampton Coliseum	Lynyrd Skynyrd	—
October 2, 1999	Philadelphia		First Union Spectrum	Lynyrd Skynyrd, Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies
October 3, 1999	Pittsburgh		Pittsburgh Civic Arena
October 6, 1999	Buffalo		Marine Midland Arena
October 8, 1999	East Rutherford		Continental Airlines Arena
October 9, 1999	Worcester		Worcester's Centrum Centre
October 10, 1999	Fairfax		Patriot Center
October 12, 1999	Cleveland		CSU Convocation Center
October 13, 1999	Fairborn		Ervin J. Nutter Center
October 15, 1999	Grand Rapids		Van Andel Arena
October 16, 1999	Detroit		Palace of Auburn Hills		13,896 / 13,896	$476,361
October 17, 1999	Indianapolis		Market Square Arena	Lynyrd Skynyrd	—	—
October 19, 1999	Moline		MARK of the Quad Cities
October 20, 1999	Madison		Kohl Center
October 22, 1999	Chicago		United Center	Lynyrd Skynyrd, Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies
October 23, 1999	Ames		Hilton Coliseum	Lynyrd Skynyrd	7,362 / 14,092
October 24, 1999	Fargo		Fargodome		—
October 26, 1999	Minneapolis		Target Center	Lynyrd Skynyrd, Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies
October 28, 1999	Kansas City		Kansas City Municipal Auditorium
October 29, 1999	St. Louis		Kiel Center
October 30, 1999	Memphis		Pyramid Arena		13,621 / 13,621	$489,795
November 5, 1999	New Orleans		New Orleans Arena		—	—
November 6, 1999	Jackson		Mississippi Coliseum
November 7, 1999	Nashville		Nashville Arena
November 9, 1999	Shreveport		Hirsch Memorial Coliseum
November 10, 1999	Little Rock		Alltel Arena
November 12, 1999	Oklahoma City		Myriad Convention Center
November 13, 1999	Tulsa		Tulsa Convention Center
November 14, 1999	Wichita		Britt Brown Arena
November 16, 1999	Omaha		Omaha Civic Auditorium Arena	Lynyrd Skynyrd
November 17, 1999	Rapid City		Rushmore Plaza Civic Center
November 19, 1999	Salt Lake City		Delta Center	Lynyrd Skynyrd, Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies
November 21, 1999	Billings		MetraPark Arena
November 22, 1999	Missoula		Adams Center	Lynyrd Skynyrd
November 24, 1999	Tacoma		Tacoma Dome	Lynyrd Skynyrd, Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies
November 26, 1999	Spokane		Spokane Arena
November 27, 1999	Portland		Rose Garden Arena
November 28, 1999	Boise		Idaho Center
November 30, 1999	Reno		Lawlor Events Center	Lynyrd Skynyrd
December 1, 1999	Sacramento		ARCO Arena	Lynyrd Skynyrd, Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies
December 3, 1999	Oakland		The Arena in Oakland	Lynyrd Skynyrd, Sy Klopps Blues Band
December 4, 1999	Anaheim		Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim	Lynyrd Skynyrd
December 5, 1999	San Diego		San Diego Sports Arena
December 7, 1999	Las Vegas		Mandalay Bay Events Center	Lynyrd Skynyrd, Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies
December 9, 1999	Tucson		Tucson Convention Center		7,379 / 8,962	$258,265
December 10, 1999	Phoenix		America West Arena		—	—
December 11, 1999	Albuquerque		Tingley Coliseum
December 14, 1999	Odessa		Ector County Coliseum	Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies
December 16, 1999	Lubbock		Lubbock Municipal Coliseum	Lynyrd Skynyrd, Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies
December 17, 1999	Dallas		Reunion Arena		14,654 / 14,654	$579,290
December 29, 1999	Lafayette		Cajundome	Lynyrd Skynyrd, Jivin’ Sister Fanny	—	—
December 30, 1999	Austin		Frank Erwin Center
December 31, 1999	Houston	Houston Compaq Center	11,777 / 11,777		$681,372
Leg 2: arenas in the United States^[2]
January 14, 2000	Hershey	United States	Hersheypark Arena	Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Demonseeds	—	—
January 15, 2000	Charleston		Charleston Civic Center		11,423 / 11,423	$379,891
January 16, 2000	Wheeling		Wheeling Civic Center		—	—
January 18, 2000	Wilkes-Barre		Northeastern Pennsylvania Civic Arena	Lynyrd Skynyrd, Laidlaw
January 19, 2000	Rochester		Blue Cross Arena		5,147 / 10,877
January 21, 2000	Hartford		Hartford Civic Center		9,784 / 12,500	$334,342
January 22, 2000	Providence		Providence Civic Center		—	—
January 23, 2000	Uniondale		Nassau Coliseum
January 25, 2000	Albany		Pepsi Arena		8,899 / 10,000	$297,211
January 26, 2000	Portland		Cumberland County Civic Center		8,068 / 8,068	$282,380
January 28, 2000	Uncasville		Mohegan Sun Arena		—	—
January 29, 2000	Atlantic City		Trump Marina
February 2, 2000	Tampa		Ice Palace Arena	Lynyrd Skynyrd, Laidlaw
February 4, 2000	Savannah		Savannah Civic Center
February 5, 2000	Tupelo		Tupelo Coliseum
February 6, 2000	Biloxi		Mississippi Coast Coliseum
February 8, 2000	Louisville		Freedom Hall		11,116 / 13,000	$341,567
February 9, 2000	Huntsville		Von Braun Civic Center		7,862 / 7,862	$269,867
February 11, 2000	Johnson City		Freedom Hall Civic Center		7,958 / 7,958	$278,530
February 13, 2000	Fort Worth		Fort Worth Convention Center		11,923 / 11,923	$492,155
February 16, 2000	Macon		Macon Coliseum		—	—
February 18, 2000	Albany		Albany Civic Center
February 19, 2000	North Charleston		North Charleston Coliseum
February 20, 2000	Raleigh		Raleigh Entertainment & Sports Arena
February 22, 2000	Toledo		Savage Hall
February 23, 2000	Kalamazoo		Wings Stadium
February 25, 2000	Cincinnati		Cincinnati Gardens
February 26, 2000	Columbus		Value City Arena
February 27, 2000	Evansville		Roberts Municipal Stadium
February 29, 2000	Peoria		Peoria Civic Center
March 2, 2000	Terre Haute		Hulman Center		6,086 / 10,200
March 3, 2000	Cape Girardeau		Show Me Center		—
March 5, 2000	Beaumont		Montagne Center
Leg 3: arenas and stadiums in Australasia^[3]
April 17, 2000	Perth	Australia	Perth Entertainment Centre		—	—
April 19, 2000	Adelaide		Adelaide Entertainment Centre	Orianthi
April 21, 2000	Byron Bay		Red Devil Park	Robert Cray Band, Béla Fleck & the Flecktones
April 22, 2000	Brisbane		Brisbane Entertainment Centre
April 24, 2000	Sydney		Sydney Entertainment Centre	Never the Bride
April 26, 2000	Melbourne		Melbourne Park
April 28, 2000	Auckland	New Zealand	Ericsson Stadium Supertop	Delta
April 30, 2000	Christchurch		WestpacTrust Centre
May 1, 2000	Wellington		Queens Wharf Events Centre
Leg 4: arenas and stadiums in the United States ("Casino Tour")
May 4, 2002	Atlantic City	United States	Etess Arena		—	—
May 7, 2002	Uncasville		Mohegan Sun Arena
May 9, 2002	Albuquerque		Sandia Resort and Casino
May 11, 2002	Paradise		Aladdin Theatre for the Performing Arts
May 12, 2002	Alpine		Viejas Casino
Leg 5: auditoriums and arenas in Europe ("Euro-Afrique")
October 1, 2002	Helsinki	Finland	Hartwall Areena	Gary Moore	—	—
October 3, 2002	Stockholm	Sweden	Hovet
October 5, 2002	Aalborg	Denmark	Aalborg Stadion
October 7, 2002	Copenhagen		Falkoner Teatret
October 8, 2002	Hamburg	Germany	Alsterdorfer Sporthalle
October 10, 2002	Berlin		Velodrom
October 11, 2002	Leipzig		Arena Leipzig
October 12, 2002	Frankfurt		Jahrhunderthalle
October 14, 2002	Paris	France	Zénith de Paris
October 15, 2002	Saarbrücken	Germany	E-Werk
October 16, 2002	Brussels	Belgium	Forest National
October 18, 2002	Essen	Germany	Grugahalle
October 19, 2002	Munich		Olympiahalle
October 20, 2002	Stuttgart		Schleyerhalle
October 22, 2002	Vienna	Austria	Spark7 Halle
October 23, 2002	Brno	Czech Republic	Hala Rondo
October 24, 2002	Zagreb	Croatia	Dom Sportova
October 26, 2002	Zürich	Switzerland	Hallenstadion	Gary Moore
October 27, 2002	Milan	Italy	PalaVobis
October 29, 2002	Amsterdam	Netherlands	Heineken Music Hall
October 31, 2002	Manchester	England	Manchester Apollo
November 1, 2002	London		Carling Apollo Hammersmith	Headway

Notes

1. High End Systems 2000.
2. ZZTop.com 2000a.
3. ZZTop.com 2000b.

References

• Hausman, Jeff (1996). "Light 'em up!". The Inside. No. 6.
• . High End Systems. Archived from the original on May 10, 2000. Retrieved March 10, 2012.
• Zurich, Peter (2012). "Past ZZ Top Concerts". The Little Ol' Web Page from Texas. Retrieved March 10, 2012.
• . ZZTop.com. Archived from the original on April 8, 2000. Retrieved March 10, 2012.
• . ZZTop.com. Archived from the original on June 6, 2000. Retrieved March 10, 2012.