ZZ Top Tribute to play Town Park as Concert series winds down for summer

August 15, 2024 · 0 Comments

Fandango: A Tribute to ZZ Top will play Town Park next Wednesday, August 21, as Aurora’s Concerts in the Park summer series prepares to bow for 2024.

“Fandango pays homage to ZZ Top, celebrating their powerhouse legacy,” says the Town of its penultimate concert of the season. “More than a concert, Fandango promises an unforgettable night of ‘Texas boogie’, nostalgia and timeless rock.

“Don your beard and sunglasses for a Texas-sized tribute.”

Fandango is the brainchild of producer Garry Licach, who has helped bring several concerts to the park this season, including Material Girls on August 14, and the ever-popular Abbamania, which will bring down the curtain on August 28.

For these and all of the shows, he prides himself on bringing together artists and the technical expertise to ensure each sound and note is as authentic as possible to each hit’s original recording.

“Fandango is three different guys all together with all the hits, and when they take the stage the crowd goes crazy,” he says. “They sound the part, they look the part – the beards, the costumes, the everything! One minute to show time, I look out and say, ‘Buckle up, everybody. We’re going downtown.’

“I’m the engineer and those bands sound exactly like the record. We sell out Massey Hall, Roy Thomson Hall. Tribute bands don’t play there, but these shows do. The vocals set them apart. Close your eyes and you’ll think [it’s the original artists]. I have been an engineer for 57 years and even at Massey Hall, I don’t let anybody mix my shows because they just don’t get what the record sounded like. They didn’t know where to cross over the vocals at a certain range, how to get that radio bass sound because when you’re playing in your car, bass is the loudest thing…everything else is filler. All the other bands I see, everything else is just loud; the volume is the trick here. We want people to go, ‘Holy s—, that sounds just like the record,’ and that’s what we’re known for – exactly reproducing each artist.”

To experience it yourself head out to Town Park next Wednesday, August 21, and go over the “Top.”

Concerts in the Park take place each Wednesday night from 7 – 9 p.m. at Town Park through to the end of August.

Vendors for food and other goods begin setting up at 6 p.m.

Concerts are free, but donations to the Aurora Food Pantry are encouraged.

For more on the 2024 Concerts in the Park lineup, visit aurora.ca/summerconcerts.

By Brock Weir