LONDON, Ont. - If you believe ZZ Top lore, the powerhouse Texas trio booked tickets to the moon long before the group found its way to London.

But last night at Harris Park, ZZ Top showed more than enough rocking overdrive to take the crowd of 9,500 wild fans to the moon and back a few times.

ZZ Top was the opening-night headliner at this year's Rock the Park fest, playing the first London gig in its 35-year-plus career. Local fans' long wait for ZZ Top ended about 9:30 p.m.

"This is the place to be," bearded guitar warrior Billy Gibbons said. "We hitchhiked up all the way from Texas just to be here."

With Gibbons and fellow bearded wonder, bassist Dusty Hill, in cool red jackets and with their choreography in a groove, ZZ Top hit the stage with Got Me Under Pressure.

The trio kept up the pressure, with driving hit following hit as the park -- and the fans -- rocked.

Gibbons's stage talk provided a few breaks in the no-zzzzz drive.

Often the buzzsaw edge to his voice led right into the song. It was hard to tell where his shout of the title -- Pearl Necklace -- stopped and the crushing guitar started.

In keeping with ZZ Top's approach to the universe, the one beardless member is drummer Frank Beard. With Hill and Beard running like a souped-up V8 on a Texas freeway, car-buff Gibbons was free to steer the band into powerhouse riffs and hot customized solos.

Among the other early-set park-rockers were I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide -- which sparked a big

singalong -- Pincushion, a new one (Buck Nekkid) and an old one (Brown Sugar). This is why they call the four-day fest Rock the Park.

No one is quite sure why it took so long for all those ZZ classics to make it to London. In the 1970s, the band was a huge draw, maybe too huge for London. Then there were more hits, rejections of big-dollar offers to trim those beards and talk the Texans had booked those tickets on the first commercial trip to the moon.

Maybe that's just tall Texan talk. Last night, ZZ Top lived up to its rep as one of the great live bands.

"We've been doing this for a long, long time . . . same three guys all the time," Gibbons said. "Playing the same three chords," he joked, saying he was quoting a mutter from Beard.

Those three chords did the Texans proud on a long blues -- called something like A Fool for Your Stockings -- when Gibbons played the rawest guitar heard in London this year.

(There were some fine, fine guitarists at Bluesfest 2005 last weekend, but Gibbons is the man who was praised as one of the best by Jimi Hendrix way back in the 1960s.)

Fifty minutes into the set, Gibbons went from stockings to Cheap

Sunglasses, one of ZZ Top's classics. Gibbons and Hill both sported their trademark shades last night. Keeping on the fashion theme, Gibbons was topped by what looked like a cross between a beehive and a tuque. Must have been hot under that hat.

More sensibly, Hill had a good ol' cowboy hat. Given how muggy it was yesterday, the bare-headed, if long-haired, Beard was probably best prepared for London on a summer night.

The Texas trio has been in London for three days, taking those beards and Beard to the Oaks to play golf.

Canadian rocker Randy Bachman was back for the second year to put a lot from his old bands, the Guess Who and BTO, into the mix. A highlight of the early part of his set was the blistering guitar solo on BTO's Let It Ride.

Bachman sang lead on the BTO tunes, letting his Rock Thing pals handle the vocals associated with his partner in the Guess Who, Burton Cummings.

Mid-set, he went all the way back to the Guess Who's first hit, Shakin' All Over, from 1965. By that time, the park was starting to shake, too.

Earlier, the 2005 edition of B.C. rock band Trooper played a classic set, ending with Raise a Little Hell to deserved cheers. Opening the fest was teenage bluesman Jimmy Bowskill. Also on the bill was Brian Howe, a former Bad Company's singer. Ex-Foreigner singer Lou Gramm headlines tonight as the outdoor fest continues.

SUN RATING: 4 out of 5