Billy Gibbons celebrated his 73rd birthday on December 16 and took to stage the night before to perform with a rotating cast of talented performers, among them The Doors guitarist Robby Krieger and Joe Bonamassa.
The relaxed show took place at The Troubadour in Hollywood, Los Angeles and featured a number of other big names, including brass players Joe Sublett and Richie "La Bamba" Rosenberg, drummer Joel Taylor and actor/musician Paul Hipp, among others.
The set took in ZZ Top classics, such as La Grange, along with a Doors cover, Roadhouse, led by Krieger and Hipp and a boozy rebranding of Ben E. King classic Stand By Me to Drink With Me.
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In addition, Joe Bonamassa – in blistering form – reprised an old favorite in the form of Further On Up The Road, tipping the cap to Gibbons’ origins with the skittering Texas blues standard beloved by Eric Clapton.
Bonamassa, like all of the assembled, is otherwise content to play sideman – for instance, you can spot him helpfully signing a ‘C’ to Hipp as the latter steps in for a solo on the La Grange jam in the wrong key. For his part, Hipp immediately pulls it out of the bag and offers a great vocal on Roadhouse, to boot.
It seems most of those present, including Gibbons himself, were happy to mingle in and out of the onstage lineup throughout the set, which appears to have been largely strung together on the fly.
Of course, fan footage has emerged in a steady stream, documenting the event for posterity. Check out the clips above for a fans‘ eye view of the night.
The event is becoming something of a tradition. Gibbons hosted a similar party at The Troubadour last December, inviting Joe Bonamassa along for a note-perfect cover of Foxy Lady – a lick Gibbons was famously taught by Hendrix himself.
