George Thorogood and The Destroyers Return to Wilmington
The Delaware-born rocker comes home to celebrate 45 years of a legendary career in a sold-out show at The Grand on Oct. 1.
The fourth time’s the charm for one of Delaware’s favorite sons, George Thorogood.
Alongside his longtime band the Destroyers, Thorogood’s oh-so-appropriately named Good to Be Bad: 45 Years of Rock Tour hits Wilmington for a sold-out show at The Grand Opera House (a.k.a. The Grand) Oct. 1.
The historic venue has been quite good to Thorogood in recent years, as the Wilmington born-and-bred rocker sold out his three previous performances there in 2009, 2011, and 2015.
In an exclusive interview with Delaware Today, Thorogood—best known for perennial hits like “Bad to the Bone,” “I Drink Alone,” and “Move It on Over”—reveals that he considers The Grand to be one of the best venues he’s ever played in.
“If I had to list one of the top three sounding rooms I’ve ever worked in, in the world, that’s one of them,” Thorogood confirms. “In fact, it might be the best-sounding room I’ve ever played in. It’s pretty close—and I play a lot of them.”
Thorogood, who attended Brandywine High School from 1964-68 and is a former resident of Newark, naturally gravitated towards playing guitar as a kid. “I had a Harmony, like every other kid in America,” he admits. “I knew the guitar was going to catch an audience’s ear more than my voice would.”
Blues man George Thorogood wants to ‘keep rocking’
George Thorogood’s most recent album, 2017’s “Party of One,” was something altogether new for the blues rocker — a solo acoustic set, his first recording without his hard-charging band, the Destroyers. Thorogood talks about that album with pride and calls it “long overdue.” But when asked if he will do any solo acoustic numbers during his show at the Ferguson Center on Thursday night, he laughs. “No, man, I had a hard enough time doing it in the studio,” he said. “I’d have a really hard time pulling it off on the bandstand. We want to keep rocking, keep the spirit of youth alive.”
He is 69 years old, but feels good and sounds energetic. Forty years after he emerged on the scene playing electrified covers of Johnny Cash, Hank Williams and John Lee Hooker, he still stays true to his roots.
GEORGE THOROGOOD CREDITS LONGEVITY TO THE FANS
69 years young, hard rocking blues and boogie guitar guru George Thorogood has been on the road for nearly 45 years. The Delaware native first popped unto the scene back in 1974, with his band the Destroyers, selling over 15 million records during his more than four decade run.
Their self titled debut (1977) went gold and quickly introduced fans to Thorogood's love of old school blues, giving us the popular remake of John Lee Hooker's 'One Bourbon, One Scotch, & One Beer' as well as 'Kind Hearted Woman' by Robert Johnson. All totaled, Thorogood and the Destroyers have released 16 studio albums, earned six gold records, including two earning platinum certification.
Epiphone's New Signature White Fang is Bad to the Bone
Courtesy GuitarPlayer.com
The introduction of Epiphone’s George Thorogood White Fang ES-125 TDC is a long-overdue tribute to the slide-wielding blues rocker whose badass-to-the bone guitar tone is one of the most recognizable around. Based on the vintage Gibson ES-125s that Thorogood has been slinging for decades, the White Fang ($899 street) has been optimized for the Delaware-born guitarist via a custom neck profile, Wilkinson Deluxe tuners, Epiphone ProBucker P-90 pickups, a wooden bridge and an eye-catching Bone white finish.
Far from being just a sweet-looking signature model, however, the White Fang was born out of necessity. “I was kind of forced into it due to the fact that I had worn out all my old Gibson 125s,” Thorogood says. “They’re frail and they just kept breaking down, and we were spending thousands of dollars trying to rebuild them. Finally, the people in my organization told me I couldn’t play them anymore because it was costing us a fortune. They asked me to try some Epiphone guitars.
“I picked one up and it sounded good, but I physically couldn’t play it because the neck was too wide and thick. Epiphone said that was the least of my worries, because they could alter the neck and frets and all that to my specs. It took a little time to make the changes I wanted, but ever since they turned me on to this instrument, I can’t put it down. And I think that’s the way it should be with a musical instrument. It’s like having really good food on your table that you can’t stop eating.”