ZZ Top regrets Texas tour

08-10-2008 21:01

ZZ Top star Billy Gibbons still regrets 'taking Texas to the people' on tour - after discovering that rattlesnakes and buffalo don't make good stage companions.The rocker created a stage set in the shape of his home state and brought native wildlife with him - but admits the idea was ill-advised.He tells Guitar World magazine, "(We had) a number of rattlesnakes, vultures and even a couple of buffalo onstage. It was authentic! It was disastrous. At first, everything went well: the rattlers behaved, the birds seemed to stand the noise and the buffalo grazed quietly, until one night one buffalo decided he'd had enough. He rammed two glass cages containing the snakes. Suddenly we had a dozen rattlers crawling around onstage. "Our drummer (Frank Beard) suggested we play something quiet to soothe them - a stupid idea, 'cause most snakes are deaf. We didn't even attempt it. We just fled and left the roadies to minimise the damage."