For thirty years, George Thorogood and the Destroyers have been taking their signature brand of bluesy rock and roll to audiences from coast to coast. On Friday night, Thorogood and company made their triumphant return to the Grand Casino Amphitheater in Hinckley, Minnesota to a packed house of raucous fans. Based on some very favorable comments Thorogood had made about the venue in a radio interview a week before the show, everything pointed to a great night of music.
This was the second time that I had the pleasure of seeing Thorogood perform in Hinckley. Whereas two years ago, Creedence Clearwater Revisited opened for George, this years event featured an opening set by another good time party band, Georgia Satellites. Firmly entrenched in the “Fifteen Minutes of Fame” category thanks to their one smash hit, “Keep Your Hands To Yourself ,” the Satellites did a good job of opening the event and getting the rapidly swelling audience in the party mood. The band featured one original member, Rick Richards on guitar, and a long time member of the band, Rick Price on bass. Along with drummer Todd Johnson and keyboard player Bob Page, the band blazed through an hour long set featuring a number of familiar songs, including the aforementioned “Keep Your Hands To Yourself” and early recorded songs like “Battleship Chains.” The set also included a number of familiar classics including Eddie Cochrane’s, “Something Else;” George Jones’ “White Lightnin’;” and a couple of Chuck Berry tunes, “Bye Bye Johnny B. Goode” and “Memphis.” The set ended with a rousing version of the classic “Hippy Hippy Shake” and an appreciative ovation from the audience. Suffice it to say, the Satellites did a fine job of setting up the audience for the action to come.
The crowd had grown appreciably by the time George Thorogood and the Destroyers took the stage. Opening with “Long Gone,” George strode onto the stage in his characteristic headband, black pants and skull emblazoned black t-shirt with the sleeves cut off. It was easy to feel the excitement grow with each song, as George fed off the energy provided by the crowd and the crowd growing more and more raucous as George continued to fire them up with what really felt like a 90+ minute “greatest hits” performance. It was amazing to see George with his black hollow body Gibson guitar stalking and spinning across the stage as he has done for the past 30 years, seemingly as wild as ever. With his band including long time members, Bill Blough on bass and original member Jeff Simon on drums, along with Buddy Leach playing his murderous sax and Texan Jim Suhler backing up George on guitar, The Destroyers set seemed to strengthen with each song.
The sound generated by the band was powerful and energizing. As the set went on with other Thorogood versions of classics like “Who Do You Love?;” “Nighttime” and John Lee Hooker’s “House Rent Boogie” and “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer,” coupled with Thorogood originals like “Get A Haircut” and “Sweet Little Lady,” practically every song turned into a sing-along. Suhler’s leads played well off of Thorogood’s power chording and signature slide work on songs like “Bad To The Bone” turned the area in front of the stage into George’s very own boogie mosh pit!
After the set ended with another Thorogood hit, “Move It On Over,” the band left only briefly before returning to perform a two song encore that began with George only doing vocals on “That’s It, I Quit” and bringing his guitar back out for the finale, “Rockin’ My Life Away.”
It was all classic Thorogood, from the synchronized playing between Thorogood and Suhler to the well know sound of guitar and sax blasting into the dark night as Thorogood and Leach went toe-to-toe on many songs. At one point during the performance, George mentioned to the crowd that when they went back to work on Monday, they could tell everyone “I was there; you weren’t; you lose!”
It is pretty hard not to have a good time at a George Thorogood and the Destroyers show. The success of the Friday night show was clear from the people I talked to or overheard as they returned to their vehicles to head for home or back to the casino to complete the evening. During the performance, Thorogood promised to be back again soon and I am sure those in attendance hope that he keeps his word!
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