Las Vegas Weekly

January 4, 2009 · 8:30 AM

Exclusive Photo Galleries: Kid Rock and ZZ Top close out holiday weekend

By Robin Leach

Kid Rock at The Pearl Concert Theater at the Palms.

Photo: Denise Truscello

Just when you thought it was impossible to “top” the megastar power that lit up Las Vegas for New Year’s Eve, along come two rock music superstars in dueling battles to close out the long holiday weekend.

ZZ Top and Kid Rock went into head-to-head rivalry last night, and both acts had jam-packed, sellout crowds for their sensational shows. For Detroit-born rock-rapper Kid Rock, it was his second show in less than 96 hours at The Pearl Concert Theater in the Palms.

Our contributing photographer Denise Truscello was onstage and backstage for the candid shots of Palms President George Maloof and Kid Rock, aka Robert Ritchie and former three-month-long husband in a stormy marriage to Pamela Anderson. Another contributing photographer, Erik Kabik, also captured some of the other platinum performance photos.

Earlier mid-week, Kid Rock was up at both the Palms’ Playboy Club and Moon nightspot for the New Year’s Eve countdown -- and that’s where he hung out again early this morning!

Over at the Hard Rock Hotel, the three men who make up ZZ Top took to the stage and dazzled fans with a “wow of a performance.” Black-hat-wearing guitarist Billy Gibbons, bass player Dusty Hill in his trademark white hat and drummer Frank Beard, who was without a trademark beard(!), presented a superb show that even had the trio dancing onstage and dueling with their guitars!

Our contributing photographer Scott Harrison captured this great collection of ZZ Top performance photos to close out the holiday weekend in typical over-the-top Vegas fashion.

When it comes to rock shows and holiday headliners, nobody does it better than Vegas!

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