Guitarist Billy F Gibbons explains, "Earlier this year, because of a routing quirk, we accepted a 'fill-in' date at a little old theater in Knoxville. That experience reminded us of our roots, both in terms of a stripped-down, gut-bucket musical approach and the direct connection with the people who came to see us. So we said, 'why not do this on a more extended basis and have some real fun?'"

Though they've just come back from Europe where they played to monumental crowds at festivals in eight countries, the band was game to revisit the experience and, as bassist Dusty Hill puts it, "We figured it would be a kick to, so to speak, get in people's faces and the idea for this tour was born."

Drummer Frank Beard added, "To actually be able to see whole audience and interact with them like this is a throwback to our early days and who wouldn't want to go back in time?"

Earlier this year, at the Nokia Theatre in Dallas, the band was shot for the Eagle Vision DVD release Live From Texas that went on to debut at #1 on Billboard's music DVD chart the week it was released. The title has since returned to the top slot on that chart where it has stayed for two consecutive weeks. They are currently touring the U.S. with Brooks & Dunn packing arenas and sheds around the country. On September 9th, the anniversary of their breakthrough album, Eliminator, will be celebrated with the release of a special Collectors Edition of the RIAA-certified Diamond album (over 10 million units) by Warner Bros. through Rhino Entertainment.

The ZZ Top In Your Face Tour runs for six weeks this fall and brings the band to some major markets including Minneapolis, Nashville, Cleveland, St. Louis, Denver, Indianapolis and Kansas City and some much smaller locales where they haven't played in many years, including Grand Forks, ND; Fort Smith, AR, Huntington, WV and Sioux Falls, SD. A complete ZZ Top In Your Face Tour itinerary follows.