Watch Billy Gibbons Lead Warren Haynes, Joe Russo & Kevin Scott On ZZ Top Classics At Xmas Jam

ZZ Top frontman Billy Gibbons played an assortment of the band’s best-known songs and stellar deep cuts to get the Gov’t Mule set underway at the 32nd Christmas Jam benefit concert in Asheville on Saturday. Host and Gov’t Mule guitarist/vocalist Warren Haynes and bandmate bassist Kevin Scott teamed with drummer Joe Russo to back Gibbons on six songs at ExploreAsheville.com Arena.

“I told Warren I’ve been waiting on this for decades,” Gibbons told the crowd after the four musicians took the stage. “He said, ‘that’s alright. All you gotta do now is ‘Waitin’ On The Bus.'” The quartet then lit into the song Gibbons mentioned followed by “Jesus Just Left Chicago” in the same pairing that opens ZZ Top’s 1973 studio album, Tres Hombres.

Billy Gibbons altered the “Jesus Just Left Chicago” lyrics to reference “North Carolina” to the delight of the audience. The ZZ Top frontman took a solo in between verses before Haynes let it rip at the end of the song. Warren and Billy then shared vocal duties on “Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers,” the third song featured on Tres Hombres.

Check out fan-shot video footage of “Waitin’ On The Bus”/”Jesus Just Left Chicago” from the Xmas Jam below:

“I know it’s Christmas time, but can we do something down and dirty?” Gibbons asked the crowd. “Can we do a little blues for you tonight?” The guitarist then led Haynes, Russo and Scott through “Blue Jeans Blues.” Billy wrote the song from 1975’s Fandango! with fellow ZZ Top co-founders Dusty Hill and Frank Beard. Gibbons went on to discuss the history of ZZ Top and Gov’t Mule and then told the story behind his band’s 1983 hit “Sharp Dressed Man” as the introduction to the song.

The Billy Gibbons & Friends portion of the evening concluded with a rousing rendition of “La Grange.” Once again the 73-year-old musician fit in references to North Carolina amid the lyrics. Haynes and Gibbons traded licks throughout the Tres Hombres classic. “I think we outta do this every year, don’t you think?” the ZZ Top frontman exclaimed ahead of the final chords.

Billy Gibbons returned for an all-star cover of Lynyrd Skynyrd's “Simple Man” later in Gov’t Mule’s set. Gibbons also contributed to the evening’s “Soulshine” finale.

Setlist

Set: Waitin’ On The Bus > Jesus Just Left Chicago, Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers, Blue Jeans Blues, Sharp Dressed Man, La Grange