There was no pink champagne on ice or anyone attending in a silk suit with a black tie at the concert on July 16 at the amphitheater at Pepper Tree Ranch in Hollister, as two bands presented opposing views of life: one drawn from Laurel Canyon poetics, claiming that we are all just prisoners here of our own device, and the other derived from a Texas gut-bucket blues understanding that every girl is crazy about a sharp-dressed man.
However, over 1,500 music lovers in attendance at the Guerra family-owned venue seemed to be enjoying themselves too much to take sides as The Long Run, an Eagles tribute band, and Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers, a ZZ Top tribute band, kicked off the second in a series of five events in the Hollister Concert series.
“Who doesn’t love the Eagles?” said Denise Verdugo. “And everybody knows ZZ Top. As far as the venue, I grew up in San Jose and have been to concerts all over the area. Nobody else has a venue as beautiful as this one and the landscape in front of you is incredible.”
Verdugo’s husband Arthur owns Arturo’s Painting, one of 11 concert sponsors this year.
“We do it because it is a fun event and we want it to continue, she said. “We like to give tickets to clients and friends so they can come and have a good time. The people here are great and the wine is wonderful. What more can you ask?”
The members of Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers were driven to the stage at 6:30 p.m. in a reproduction of the iconic red 1933 Ford Coupe featured in numerous ZZ Top videos and started their set with the 1981 #4 hit “Tube Snake Boogie,” quickly segueing into other familiar numbers, leaning heavily on songs like “Gimme All Your Lovin’,” “Got Me Under Pressure,” and, of course, “Sharp Dressed Man” from the breakthrough 1983 album “Eliminator.”
Bass guitarist Chris “Cornbread” Lombardo and lead guitarist Tim Narducci have been performing their ZZ Top tribute for 12 years and have the band’s signature on-stage moves down perfectly, though Narducci said that reproducing the sound was much more complicated.
“It is a very big undertaking,” he said. “When Billy Gibbons records the lead guitar, there are usually about three parts. Three guitars doing three different things. Well, which one do I pick to perform onstage? Which is the most memorable?”
Lombardo and Narducci have played together in various bands for years and their versatility and repertoire unintentionally brought them to perform as Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers.
“A friend of mine called and asked us to play some ZZ Top for a birthday party,” Lombardo said. “Then a couple of weeks later, someone else asked us, and so on. There is a great appeal to ZZ Top—they took the blues and made it fun. They talk about having a good time, partying, the flipside of the blues sound.”
Since then they have done about 500 shows and played as far away as Sweden. But they keep returning to Hollister.
We have played here before and at the Independence Day rally,” Lombardo said. “There is a great vibe down here. People really come out for the shows. The venue is great, the sound is great, and we love playing here.”
As the sun set, a steady breeze helped lift the heat of the day. The Long Run began their set, as the area in front of the stage was crowded by dancing attendees.
Kicking off their performance with a solid string of hits beginning with “Already Gone,” “The Long Run,” and “Lying Eyes,” the tribute band from Los Angeles took the evening in a more mellow direction as they explored songs from the Eagles and Joe Walsh.
Formed in 1999, The Long Run eschews mimicry of the Eagles physical look, preferring to nail down the sound and technical ability of the band. Songs like “Rocky Mountain Way” allowed the group to stretch out beyond mere rote performances and the Eagle’s trademark harmonies were neatly emulated in songs like “One of These Nights.”
With a catalog as successful as that of the Eagles, it was not hard to come up with hit after million-selling hit, capped off by the song everyone came to hear, a shimmering “Hotel California.”
As the final notes of the show faded into the evening, a very happy audience trooped back to their cars and another successful event ended for Hollister Concerts.
The series continues with:
August 6
- Petty Breakers—a Tom Petty tribute
- Turn the Page—a Bob Seger tribute
August 27
- Queen Nation—a Queen tribute
- Idox X—a Billy Idol tribute
September 17
- Bonfire—an AC/DC tribute
- Damage Inc—a Metallica tribute
- Bay Area rockers Corvus Lore opens
Admission begins at 5 p.m., with the first band starting at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $37 with a $7 per car parking fee.
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