George Thorogood and The Destroyers

George Thorogood is a name I have been familiar with my entire life. I remember singing Bad to the Bone in the backseat of my Dad’s Cadillac at the young age of 6. The Destroyers have been on my concerts to attend list for as long as I can remember. They seem to be constantly on tour, regularly stopping in Las Vegas, but unfortunately I did not meet the 21 and over age requirement for most of their shows. None of this matters now because the day has come; I finally get the pleasure of seeing George Thorogood and the Destroyers live!

Surf Asylum opened for The Destroyers. I had not heard of them previously, but found myself rather impressed. Their niche seems to be instrumental blues rock and roll, heavy with fierce surf guitars. They played familiar classics like, White Wedding, Smoke on the Water, and closed with Misirlou. Although Surf Asylum is technically a cover band, I think they breathe a new life into these songs by extracting the rhythm and embellishing it with fuller and more vigorous sounds. As it reads on their myspace page, “Their music has been described as “Clint Eastwood on acid at a beach in Mexico.” I couldn’t agree more! myspace

Around 9, the stage lights came on, the Destroyers logo came up on all three screens, a booming announcer voice echoed through the house, “Please welcome, the always on tour sensation, George Thorogood & the Destroyers!” George strutted out on stage, cool as a cat, wearing a black bandana and silver aviators, began the show with Tail Dragger. They continued with Who Do you Love?, Rockin’ My Life Away, Treat her Right, and Night Time without missing a beat. A pair of fans in front of us, toasted their beers, exclaimed “This is excellent!” and it certainly was!
It was obvious George Thorogood and The Destroyers, 30+ year veterans of the rock and roll scene, had their performance down to a science. Moving up and back on stage, dipping and diving, in perfect synchrony through most of the songs, it was a pleasure to watch. George continued to drive the ladies wild with his hip shaking, strutting, and gravelly voiced comments. They proceeded to play the fan favorites: Drink Alone, One Bourbon One Scotch One Beer, Treat her Right , Get a Haircut, Bad to the Bone, and Move it on Over. The crowd sang along, raising their glasses to the drinking songs, and it was apparent that both the band and the fans alike were having a great time. George thanked his band and the crowd and walked off stage.
Due to the overwhelming response from the audience, George returned to the stage stating, “Foreplay is over; Time to get down to business.” For the first encore they played, You Talk too Much and 20 Dollar Gig. They returned one more time to close with Cocaine Blues and Madison Blues. This hour and a half with George Thorogood and The Destroyers was well worth the wait; they put on a fantastic live show. The most notable experiences of their live show is part overpowering live saxophone, part freestyle blues rhythms, and of course the rock-n-roll bad boy moves and attitude that George is known for. Other than wanting to hear a few B-sides I hold dear, I couldn’t have asked for more from The Destroyers. This was a amazing show and I hope to not miss another George Thorogood and The Destroyers show again! Official Site