Concert: George Thorogood (April 2018)

My spouse and I attended George Thorogood and the Destroyers (GT&D) Rock Party 2018 concert at the Sands Bethlehem Event Center on a Sunday night in mid-April 2018.

Professional review follows:

Guitarist and singer George Thorogood’s career has lasted more than 40 years. He is best known for his 1983 hit “Bad to the Bone”, as well as for covers of blues standards such as Hank Williams' "Move It On Over" and Bo Diddley's "Who Do You Love?" Thorogood has sold more than 5 million copies of his 16 studio albums, five live discs, and six compilation discs. Eight of those albums have gone gold, and two of them platinum: "Live" in 1986 and "The Baddest of George Thorogood and the Destroyers" in 1992. Eight hit the Top 10 on the blues chart, with 2004's "Greatest Hits: 30 Years of Rock" and 2009's "The Dirty Dozen" both hitting No. 1.

Thorogood has played the Lehigh Valley several times in recent years. He played Penn’s Peak near Jim Thorpe in June, and in 2015 played at Allentown’s Miller Symphony Hall. He played at Musikfest's headline Steel Stage in 2013 and at Sands Bethlehem Event Center in August 2012.

For any kid growing up in the ‘60s, the first sightings of live rock & roll on TV were mind-bendingly seismic. George says. “The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show and The Rolling Stones on Shindig — we all saw that and said, ‘That’s it. That’s what I want to do.’” Almost immediately, teens across America, including the suburbs of Wilmington, Delaware, started to put together bands. “I didn’t know how to play guitar then, but the band up the street needed a singer,” he remembers. “And because I knew the words to a bunch of songs, I said I’d give it a try. The first show we ever played was a party for my twin sisters’ birthday. I was 15 years old and got paid $20. That was the day I became a professional rock performer.”

By his early 20s, Thorogood was a solo acoustic player before he hooked up with a drummer and a second guitar player and headed to Boston, where the trio opened for acts like Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf for about $200 per night. In 1976, they got a record deal. George Thorogood And The Destroyers’ self-titled and now-classic debut on Rounder would soon be certified Gold. Over the course of 16 studio albums – including six Gold and two Platinum discs on Rounder, EMI and Capitol – the band would amass an unmatched catalog of hits that includes “Who Do You Love”, “I Drink Alone”, “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer”, “Move It On Over”, “Get A Haircut” and the ultimate badass anthem, “Bad To The Bone.” But it was their powerhouse live performances that made GT&D legendary: from unforgettable appearances on SNL and Live Aid, to the opening slot on the Rolling Stones’ historic ’81 tour, to their own record-breaking 50/50 tour, or any of their current 100+ shows per year, George and his longtime band – Jeff Simon (drums, percussion), Bill Blough (bass guitar), Jim Suhler (rhythm guitar) and Buddy Leach (saxophone) – remain among the most relevant classic rock acts on tour today.

From a birthday party in Wilmington to concert stages around the world, it’s been a great ride for George Thorogood And The Destroyers. Today, one badder-than-ever guitar-slinger and his band are back to play like they still have something to prove.

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