Remember when ZZ Top's guitarist visited downtown San Angelo for chips and hot sauce? We do.

SAN ANGELO — Rock and Roll Hall of Fame legends ZZ Top have performed for more than 50 years, and Tuesday will take the stage at the Taylor County Coliseum in Abilene— familiar stomping grounds for a band whose first show in the "Storybook Capital of America" was at Abilene High School in 1971.

"The stories vary but a consistent one is that tickets cost 50 cents for the (high school) show," writes Greg Jaklewicz, editor of the Abilene Reporter News.

More: ZZ Top back in Abilene 50 years after first show at high school auditorium

When ZZ Top came to San Angelo

While ZZ Top might be playing Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2021, in Abilene, the band is no stranger to the Concho Valley.

Vocalist and guitarist, Billy Gibbons, drummer Frank Beard and vocalist-bassist Dusty Hill performed in San Angelo on May 22, 2017. Hundreds of concert-attendees lined up early outside Foster Communications Coliseum, 50 East 43rd St., to hear the band play.

Prior to the show, Gibbons made a few stops at several iconic San Angelo landmarks and businesses. Local resident Stephen McLaughlin, who volunteered to work backstage at the show, recalled those moments vividly.

"In the mid-afternoon, the backstage manager called me to the back of the coliseum and told me, 'Mr Gibbons wants you to take him to the local music store to buy some (guitar) slides.' So I did," McLaughlin said in a message to the Standard-Times.

McLaughlin transported Gibbons to Tarpley Music, 2200 W. Beauregard Ave., where the famed rock-and-roller greeted staff and patrons alike. Afterward, Gibbons wanted photos of Fort Concho, followed by a quick pit-stop in downtown San Angelo.

"He told me he was running low on hot sauce and wanted me to take him to a restaurant to get some," McLaughlin said, who noted that by this time, the backstage manager had texted, asking where the two were, and said they needed to return.

But Gibbons wanted his hot sauce, so McLaughlin took him to Fuentes Cafe Downtown, 101 S. Chadbourne St., before returning to the coliseum.

"(Gibbons) walked in and sat down at a booth and ordered hot sauce and chips to-go," said restaurant owner John Fuentes, who added. "I hope ZZ Top returns to San Angelo soon."

So does McLaughlin, who plans to see the band perform this month and noted Gibbons was friendly and approachable wherever they went.

"In the music store and the restaurant, (Gibbons) stopped and talked to everyone that wanted to talk to him, and posed for every selfie anyone asked for—(a) complete gentleman," McLaughlin said.

While seated at the restaurant, Gibbons posed holding a business card belonging to McLaughlin, who owns McLaughlin Advertising in San Angelo.

"(He) talked about getting the hot sauce during the show that night," McLaughlin said.

ZZ Top performs in Abilene

ZZ top has performed in Abilene several times, which Gibbons likened to a homecoming during a show in 1977.

"Boy, after playing for all those Yankees," Gibbons told the crowd of 6,300 at the Coliseum in Abilene, "it sure feels good to be home."

Jaklewicz noted ZZ Top's appearance then was before Abilene went "wet," and Gibbons introduced the song "Driving While Blind" by inviting fans to join him on a quick trip to a location outside of city limits for alcohol purchases.

The show went two hours and the highlights include "La Grange," "Tush," "Heard It on the X" and "Blue Jean Blues," Jaklewicz wrote.

ZZ Top's last performance in Abilene was in 2015. While fans have gotten older, they haven't become less enthusiastic with nearly every ticket for the 2021 show in Abilene sold out despite the loss of Hill, who died earlier this year at age 72.

"Elwood Francis, the group's guitar tech for 30 years, will be more than capable," wrote Jaklewicz.

“He can really dig in. He adds a propulsion to the songs that is really enjoyable," Gibbons told the Las Vegas Review Journal in October.

If You Go

What: ZZ Top, with opening act Tim Montana (his song "This Beard Came Here to Party" was a theme song for the Boston Red Sox during their 2013 postseason run)

When: 8 p.m. Tuesday

Where: Taylor County Coliseum

Tickets: Still a few balcony seats at $39.50, plus service charge, and $69.50, plus fees, for floor seats still left. Special packages also available. Go to taylorcountyexpocenter.com.

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John Tufts covers enterprise and investigative topics in West Texas. Send him a news tip at JTufts@Gannett.com. Greg Jaklewicz contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on San Angelo Standard-Times: A LOOK BACK: the ZZ Top guitarist who wanted hot sauce in San Angelo