El Loco-Motion Tour

El Loco-Motion Tour

World tour by ZZ Top
Location	North America, Europe
Associated album	El Loco
Start date	May 29, 1981
End date	January 8, 1983
Legs	5
Number of shows	90
ZZ Top concert chronology

The El Loco-Motion Tour was a concert tour by American rock band ZZ Top. The tour took place in North America and Europe from 1981 through 1983. Most of the venues were coliseums, though arenas were visited in later tour dates. Embracing the image of the El Loco album cover, band members Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill would typically perform in boilersuits with top hats. The El Loco-Motion Tour consisted of five legs and 90 shows. The set list included material from El Loco and their previous albums, along with several covers.

Concert overview

Out of the 90 concerts performed during the El Loco-Motion Tour, each show had a similar set list, with 18-22 songs played. An announcer would introduce the band and begin the show: "The best rock band in the world, from Houston, Texas, it's ZZ Top!" For the 10/28 - 11/01 shows ZZ Top was an opening act (along with The Fabulous Thunderbirds) for The Rolling Stones. Opener for ZZ Top in Europe was Rose Tattoo from Australia.

Main set

Each show began with "Groovy Little Hippie Pad." Following the opener, the band performed a cover of Sam & Dave's "I Thank You," "Waitin' for the Bus," "Jesus Just Left Chicago," "I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide," and "Don't Tease Me," and "Ten Foot Pole." Every concert featured "Manic Mechanic" during the middle of the set, and "Heard It on the X" was included in each performance. Those songs were typically followed by Freddie King's "I Love the Woman" and "A Fool for Your Stockings," in which Billy Gibbons would give a sermon and short guitar solo that brought the song to a close. "Pearl Necklace" and "Cheap Sunglasses" were also part of the main set. "Arrested for Driving While Blind" was played next and often segued into Funkadelic's "Hit It and Quit It." The end of the main set featured "Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers" and "Party on the Patio."

Encores and additional songs

After a brief break, the band would return to perform "Tube Snake Boogie." Elvis Presley's "Jailhouse Rock" was sometimes played during the encore. "La Grange" and "Tush" always closed the show. A total of 29 different songs were played throughout the tour. Out of the 10 songs on El Loco, seven of them were performed in full at least once. "Francine" and Elmore James' "Dust My Broom" was sometimes played in the main set, the latter being included once during the encore. "Mexican Blackbird," Freddie King's "Going Down," and Ray Charles' "Let's Go Get Stoned" were also played once during the encore. In Stockholm they played "Just Got Paid" as the very last song.

Tour dates

Date	City	Country	Venue
North America
May 29, 1981	Knoxville	United States	James White Civic Coliseum
May 30, 1981	Birmingham		Birmingham–Jefferson Civic Center
May 31, 1981	Nashville		Nashville Municipal Auditorium
June 5, 1981	Charlotte		Charlotte Coliseum
June 10, 1981	Fort Wayne		Allen County War Memorial Coliseum
June 12, 1981	Louisville		Freedom Hall
June 13, 1981	Detroit		Joe Louis Arena
June 14, 1981	Pittsburgh		Civic Arena
June 19, 1981	Landover		Capital Centre
June 20, 1981	South Yarmouth		Cape Cod Coliseum
June 21, 1981
June 26, 1981	New Haven		New Haven Coliseum
June 27, 1981	Buffalo		Buffalo Memorial Auditorium
July 5, 1981	Calgary	Canada	Race City Motorsport Park
July 11, 1981	Phoenix	United States	Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum
July 12, 1981	Albuquerque		Tingley Coliseum
July 15, 1981	Odessa		Ector County Coliseum
July 16, 1981	El Paso		El Paso County Coliseum
July 17, 1981	Tucson		Tucson Convention Center
July 18, 1981	Las Vegas		Las Vegas Convention Center
July 21, 1981	Philadelphia		Spectrum
July 22, 1981	Portland		Memorial Coliseum
July 23, 1981	Spokane		Spokane Coliseum
July 24, 1981	Seattle		Seattle Center Coliseum
July 25, 1981	Vancouver	Canada	Pacific Coliseum
August 1, 1981	Denver	United States	McNichols Sports Arena
August 2, 1981	Rapid City		Rushmore Plaza Civic Center
August 4, 1981	Salt Lake City		Salt Palace
August 5, 1981	Madison		Dane County Coliseum
August 6, 1981	Cedar Rapids		Five Seasons Center
August 7, 1981	Saint Paul		St. Paul Civic Center
August 8, 1981	Omaha		Omaha Civic Auditorium
August 9, 1981	East Troy		Alpine Valley Music Theatre
August 12, 1981	Sioux Falls		Sioux Falls Arena
August 13, 1981	Kansas City		Kemper Arena
August 14, 1981	Rosemont		Rosemont Horizon
August 15, 1981	St. Louis		St. Louis Arena
August 16, 1981	Indianapolis		Market Square Arena
August 19, 1981	Valley Center		Kansas Coliseum
August 20, 1981	Tulsa		Expo Square Pavilion
August 21, 1981	Little Rock		Barton Coliseum
August 23, 1981	Shreveport		Hirsch Memorial Coliseum
August 26, 1981	Utica		Utica Memorial Auditorium
August 27, 1981	Springfield		Springfield Civic Center
August 31, 1981	Portland		Cumberland County Civic Center
September 5, 1981	Lakeland		Lakeland Civic Center Arena
September 6, 1981	Pembroke Pines		Hollywood Sportatorium
September 9, 1981	Cincinnati		Riverfront Coliseum
Europe
October 2, 1981	Stockholm	Sweden	Göta Lejon
October 6, 1981	Nuremberg	Germany	Hemmerleinhalle
October 8, 1981	Offenbach		Stadthalle Offenbach
October 9, 1981	Heidelberg		Rhein-Neckar-Halle
October 10, 1981	Hamburg		Congress Centrum Hamburg
October 11, 1981	Berlin		Neue Welt
October 13, 1981	Dortmund		Westfalenhalle 3
October 14, 1981	Munich		Circus Krone Building
October 19, 1981	Düsseldorf		Philips Halle
October 25, 1981	Paris	France	Pavillon Baltard
October 26, 1981	London	England	Hammersmith Odeon
North America
October 28, 1981	Houston	United States	Reliant Astrodome
October 29, 1981
October 31, 1981	Dallas		Cotton Bowl
November 1, 1981
December 26, 1981	Houston		Summit
December 27, 1981	Dallas		Wintergarden Ballroom
December 28, 1981	Fort Worth		Billy Bob's
December 31, 1981	Memphis		Mid-South Coliseum
January 15, 1982	Greensboro		Greensboro Coliseum
January 20, 1982	Evansville		Roberts Municipal Stadium
January 21, 1982	Columbus		Battelle Hall
January 24, 1982	Huntington		Huntington Civic Center
January 26, 1982	Lexington		Rupp Arena
January 29, 1982	Bethlehem		Stabler Arena
March 21, 1982	Daly City		Cow Palace
March 24, 1982	San Diego		San Diego Sports Arena
March 26, 1982	Los Angeles		Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena
March 31, 1982	Salt Lake City		Salt Palace
April 1, 1982	Denver		McNichols Sports Arena
April 2, 1982	Lincoln		Pershing Auditorium
April 13, 1982	Amarillo		Amarillo Civic Center
April 14, 1982	Lubbock		Lubbock Coliseum
April 15, 1982	San Antonio		Convention Center Arena
April 16, 1982	Austin		Frank Erwin Center
April 17, 1982	New Orleans		The Warehouse
April 18, 1982	Tallahassee		Leon County Civic Center
Europe
May 28, 1982	Dortmund	Germany	Westfalenhalle
May 29, 1982	Würzburg		Carl-Diem-Sportgelände
May 30, 1982	Munich		Munich-Riem Airport
May 31, 1982	Landgraaf	Netherlands	Pinkpop Festival
North America
August 17, 1982	Toronto	Canada	Maple Leaf Gardens
September 20, 1982	Calgary		Stampede Corral
September 25, 1982	Charleston	United States	Charleston Civic Center
September 28, 1982	Toronto	Canada	Maple Leaf Gardens
September 30, 1982	Dayton	United States	Hara Arena
October 1, 1982	Milwaukee		MECCA Arena
December 30, 1982	Tucson		Tucson Convention Center
December 31, 1982	Phoenix		Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum
January 2, 1983	Midland		Midland College
January 5, 1983	Valley Center		Kansas Coliseum
January 8, 1983	Baton Rouge		Riverside Centroplex

References