Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers Tour

The Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers Tour was a concert tour through North America and Europe, undertaken by American rock band ZZ Top.^[1][2] Arranged in support of their 2003 album Mescalero, the band visited arenas, amphitheaters, and festivals from 2003 to 2004. To match the artistic theme that the group created with Mescalero, the tour was intended to differ from their past and surpass expectations of the band. Contrary to ZZ Top's elaborately staged multimedia events from previous tours, the Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers Tour was a modest stage setup. It utilized minimalism by adorning "Mescalero" themed props on its stage. To escape their reputation for using stage gimmicks, ZZ Top embodied a more staid and focused image on tour. The Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers Tour was central to Mescalero's success.

Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers Tour

Tour by ZZ Top
Location	North America Europe
Associated album	Mescalero
Start date	April 25, 2003
End date	September 25, 2004
Legs	5
No. of shows	137
ZZ Top concert chronology

The tour's concept was inspired by resemblances of Mexico and the American Southwest. The stage featured a plaster model of a cantina doorway that was decorated with glitter and neon finish. Day of the Dead skeletons, sombreros and a toast were incorporated into the shows. On stage, both Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill donned several costumes they designed, including rhinestone-embellished serapes, jackets, and oversized cowboy hats. In contrast to other ZZ Top tours, each of the Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers shows opened with four to ten consecutive older songs before newer material was played.

Consisting of five legs and 137 shows, the tour began in Bossier City, Louisiana on April 25, 2003 and ended in Las Vegas, Nevada on September 25, 2004. The band visited the United States, Europe, and Mexico during the first four legs, before the final leg alternated with visits between the US and Canada. After the first four legs, the tour's itinerary was expanded for fairs, festivals, and casinos during the final leg, which was branded accordingly as a summer excursion. Although the tour provoked a variety of reactions from music critics, it was generally well received. Along with being one of the top-grossing North American tours of 2003 and 2004, Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers sold over half-a-million tickets over its five legs. The band's compilation albums, Chrome, Smoke & BBQ and Rancho Texicano, were released during breaks in the tour, and most of their songs were incorporated into the main set. Critics held the Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers Tour in high regard—in the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, Scott McLennan described the show as "a joyride".^[3]

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 and amphitheaters in the United States[4]
April 25, 2003	Bossier City	United States	CenturyTel Center	Ted Nugent	6,300 / 7,500	$248,850
April 26, 2003	Birmingham		Oak Mountain Amphitheatre	Ted Nugent, Gov't Mule	—	—
April 29, 2003	Selma		Verizon Wireless Amphitheater	Kenny Wayne Shepherd
April 30, 2003	Laredo		Laredo Entertainment Center
May 2, 2003	Jackson		Mississippi Coliseum	Ted Nugent
May 3, 2003	Oklahoma City		Ford Center		7,961 / 10,000	$314,460
May 4, 2003	Memphis		Tom Lee Park	Robert Randolph and the Family Band, Cowboy Mouth	—	—
May 7, 2003	West Palm Beach		Sound Advice Amphitheatre	Ted Nugent, Kenny Wayne Shepherd
May 9, 2003	Raleigh		Alltel Pavilion at Walnut Creek
May 10, 2003	Charlotte		Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre Charlotte
May 11, 2003	Virginia Beach		GTE Virginia Beach Amphitheater
May 13, 2003	Bristow		Nissan Pavilion
May 14, 2003	Columbus		Germain Amphitheater
May 16, 2003	Pittsburgh		Post Gazette Pavilion
May 17, 2003	Noblesville		Verizon Wireless Music Center		9,594 / 24,790
May 18, 2003	Cleveland		Tower City Amphitheater		—
May 20, 2003	Mansfield		Tweeter Center for the Performing Arts
May 21, 2003	Camden		Tweeter Center at the Waterfront
May 23, 2003	Clarkston		DTE Energy Music Theatre	Kenny Wayne Shepherd	15,202 / 15,202	$366,578
May 24, 2003	Tinley Park		Tweeter Center Chicago	Ted Nugent, Kenny Wayne Shepherd	—	—
May 25, 2003	East Troy		Alpine Valley Music Theatre		5,791 / 37,000	$221,422
May 27, 2003	Cincinnati		Riverbend Music Center		—	—
May 30, 2003	Nashville		AmSouth Amphitheatre
May 31, 2003	Maryland Heights		UMB Bank Pavilion
June 1, 2003	Bonner Springs		Verizon Wireless Amphitheater Kansas City
June 3, 2003	Albuquerque		Journal Pavilion
June 4, 2003	Phoenix		Cricket Wireless Pavilion
June 6, 2003	Marysville		Sleep Train Amphitheatre
June 7, 2003	Devore		Hyundai Pavilion
June 8, 2003	Mountain View		Shoreline Amphitheatre
June 12, 2003	Tulsa		Tulsa Convention Center	Kenny Wayne Shepherd
June 13, 2003	Austin		Frank Erwin Center
June 14, 2003	Dallas		American Airlines Center
June 17, 2003	New Orleans		Lakefront Arena	Ted Nugent
June 18, 2003	Pensacola		Pensacola Civic Center
June 20, 2003	Orlando		TD Waterhouse Centre
June 21, 2003	Duluth		Gwinnett Civic Center Arena
Leg 2: arenas and festivals in Europe[4]
July 4, 2003	Sundsvall	Sweden	Stora Scenen	GES, Dilba	—	—
July 5, 2003	Sunne		Rottneros Park
July 6, 2003	Oslo	Norway	Rockefeller Music Hall
July 8, 2003	Schwerin	Germany	Sport- und Kongresshalle	Mike Tramp
July 9, 2003	Bonn		Museumsplatz
July 11, 2003	Weert	Netherlands	Bospop	Gary Moore, Motörhead
July 12, 2003	Oberkorn	Luxembourg	Centre Sportif de Differdange	Born
July 14, 2003	Montereau	France	Parc des Noues	Van Wilks, Reverend Blues Gang	2,700 / 10,000
July 16, 2003	Helsinki	Finland	Helsinki Olympic Stadium	The Hellacopters	—
July 18, 2003	Erfurt	Germany	Messe Erfurt	Mike Tramp
July 20, 2003	Montreux	Switzerland	Auditorium Stravinski	Krokus
July 21, 2003	Zürich		Landesmuseum Zürich	Le Vibrazioni
July 23, 2003	Budapest	Hungary	Petofi Csarnok
July 24, 2003	Dresden	Germany	Elbe	Mike Tramp
July 25, 2003	Lauda-Königshofen		Tauber-Franken-Halle
July 27, 2003	Birmingham	England	Carling Academy Birmingham	The Vaults
July 28, 2003	Newcastle		Telewest Arena
July 29, 2003	Liverpool		Liverpool Summer Pops
July 30, 2003	London		Carling Academy Brixton
August 1, 2003	Xanten	Germany	Amphitheatre	Mike Tramp
August 5, 2003	Hannover		Gilde Parkbühne
August 6, 2003	Hamburg		Hamburg Stadtpark
August 7, 2003	Skanderborg	Denmark	Smukfest	Kashmir, Robert Plant
August 9, 2003	Liège	Belgium	Plaine des Templiers	Mass Hysteria, Machiavel
August 11, 2003	Colmar	France	Théâtre de Plein Air de Colmar
Leg 3: arenas and amphitheaters in the United States[4]
August 20, 2003	Las Vegas	United States	Mandalay Bay Events Center	Franky Perez	—	—
August 22, 2003	Kelseyville		Konocti Harbor
August 23, 2003	Stateline		Harveys Outdoor Arena
August 24, 2003	Lancaster		Antelope Valley Fair
August 26, 2003	Englewood		Fiddler's Green Amphitheatre	Jimmie Vaughan
August 27, 2003	Lincoln		Bob Devaney Sports Center	Franky Perez
August 29, 2003	Grand Rapids		Van Andel Arena	Ted Nugent
August 31, 2003	Brookfield		Yankee Lake	Ted Nugent, Left End
September 3, 2003	Portland		Cumberland County Civic Center	Ted Nugent
September 5, 2003	Gilford		Meadowbrook Musical Arts Center
September 6, 2003	Big Flats		Summer Stage at Tags
September 7, 2003	Hershey		Giant Center	David Lee Roth
September 12, 2003	Green Bay		Resch Center	Ted Nugent
September 13, 2003	Somerset		Float Rite Park Amphitheatre
September 17, 2003	West Valley City		USANA Amphitheatre
September 19, 2003	Ridgefield		Clark County Amphitheater
September 20, 2003	George		Gorge Amphitheatre		8,610 / 13,500	$423,518
Leg 4: arenas and amphitheaters in North America[4]
November 5, 2003	Coarsegold	United States	Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino		—	—
November 7, 2003	Bakersfield		Bakersfield Centennial Garden	Franky Perez
November 8, 2003	Santa Barbara		Santa Barbara Bowl
November 9, 2003	Castaic		Castaic Lake State Recreation Area	Lee Rocker
November 14, 2003	Mexico City	Mexico	Palacio de los Deportes	Tex Tex
November 20, 2003	Knoxville	United States	Knoxville Civic Coliseum	Cross Canadian Ragweed
November 21, 2003	Robinsonville		Grand Casino Tunica
November 22, 2003	Houston		Compaq Center	Los Lobos, Cross Canadian Ragweed
Leg 5: arenas and amphitheaters in North America ("El Cabron Tour")[5]
June 25, 2004	Wichita Falls	United States	Kay Yeager Coliseum	The Fabulous Thunderbirds	—	—
June 26, 2004	Beaumont		Ford Park	Hank Williams Jr., Chris LeBlanc Band	14,272 / 14,272	$131,919
June 28, 2004	Hidalgo		Dodge Arena	Reckless Kelly	6,578 / 6,578	—
July 1, 2004	Mount Pleasant		Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort		—
July 3, 2004	Muskegon		Heritage Landing	Landing Strip	17,000 / 17,000
July 4, 2004	Tinley Park		Tweeter Center Chicago	The Doors of the 21st Century, Tesla	—
July 5, 2004	Lansing		Common Ground Music Festival	Gunner Ross and TNT
July 8, 2004	Kelowna	Canada	Westside Bluff	Phat Betty, Mocking Shadows
July 10, 2004	Craven		Qu'Appelle Valley	Nazareth, Spin Doctors
July 11, 2004	Camrose		Camrose Exhibition Grounds	Sum 41, The Tea Party
July 14, 2004	Walker	United States	Moondance Jam	Chris Robinson, Randall Zwarte Band
July 16, 2004	Sarnia	Canada	Sarnia Bayfest	9 House, The 88's
July 17, 2004	St. Clairsville	United States	Jamboree in the Hills	Chris LeDoux, Jo Dee Messina	21,624 / 35,000	$651,083
July 23, 2004	Minot		North Dakota State Fair		—	—
July 24, 2004	Cheyenne		Cheyenne Frontier Days	Marshall Tucker Band
July 25, 2004	Winter Park		Winter Park Resort	War, Dave Mason
July 28, 2004	Pala		Pala Casino Resort and Spa
July 30, 2004	Kelseyville		Konocti Harbor	Cross Canadian Ragweed
July 31, 2004	Paso Robles		Mid-State Fairgrounds Grandstand	Reckless Kelly
August 1, 2004	Costa Mesa		Pacific Amphitheatre
August 3, 2004	Kennewick		Three Rivers Coliseum	Cross Canadian Ragweed
August 5, 2004	Deer Island		Columbia Meadows
August 6, 2004	Spokane		Riverfront Park
August 7, 2004	Great Falls		Four Seasons Arena		4,079 / 5,870	$155,002
August 9, 2004	Sturgis		Buffalo Chip Campground		—	—
August 10, 2004	Sioux Falls		Sioux Empire Fair
August 11, 2004	Hayward		LCO Casino Lodge & Convention Center
August 13, 2004	Sedalia		Missouri State Fair	Franky Perez
August 14, 2004	Oklahoma City		Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Garden	Cardboard Vampyres
August 16, 2004	Atlanta		Chastain Park Amphitheater
August 20, 2004	Louisville		Freedom Hall	Saliva
August 21, 2004	Lima		Allen County Fair
August 24, 2004	Pueblo		Colorado State Fair
August 26, 2004	Green Bay		Oneida Casino Pavilion
August 27, 2004	St. Paul		Minnesota State Fair	Silvertide
September 1, 2004	Syracuse		New York State Fair	Cross Canadian Ragweed	5,828 / 16,000
September 2, 2004	Allentown		Allentown Fairgrounds	Reckless Kelly	5,440 / 10,440	$212,160
September 3, 2004	Essex Junction		Champlain Valley Fairgrounds Grandstand		—	—
September 10, 2004	Blackfoot		Eastern Idaho State Fair
September 11, 2004	Grand Junction		Country Jam Ranch	Dickey Betts, Eddie Money
September 12, 2004	Albuquerque		Sandia Casino Amphitheater
September 16, 2004	Puyallup		Puyallup Fair
September 17, 2004	Bend		Les Schwab Amphitheater	Eric Sardinas
September 18, 2004	Reno		Reno Hilton	Cowboy Mouth
September 20, 2004	Laughlin		Flamingo Laughlin
September 21, 2004
September 23, 2004	Alpine		Viejas Casino
September 24, 2004	Las Vegas		Las Vegas Hilton
September 25, 2004

References

1. "ZZ Top, Nugent Crack Open A Cold One". Billboard. Retrieved 2018-02-14.
2. Daniels, Neil (2014-01-01). Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers: A ZZ Top Guide. Soundcheck Books. ISBN 9780957144279.
3. McLennan, Scott (May 21, 2003). "ZZ Top hits the spot with fans at Tweeter - Craftsmanship, sheer music chemistry a joy". Worcester Telegram & Gazette. p. C5.
4. Zurich, Peter. "Past ZZ Top Concerts". Little ol' Web Page from Texas. Archived from the original on August 5, 2017. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
5. Zurich, Peter. "Past ZZ Top Concerts". Little ol' Web Page from Texas. Archived from the original on August 5, 2017. Retrieved September 14, 2017.