Courtesy - The Baltimore Sun

Brian Setzer hunched over his boxy Gretsch hollowbody – feet spread, hair hanging over his eyes – and pulled out a twangy burst of notes. His hot Rockabilly Riot band – second guitar, standup bass and drums – thumped a freight train rhythm. “Blue Moon of Kentucky” was leaving the station, and all four players were grinning as they hung on for dear life.

Boy, did they seem to be enjoying themselves.

Setzer, the rockabilly-reviving Stray Cat of the '80s and swinging orchestra leader of the ’90s, has been commanding stages around the world for 35 years. Elvis Presley’s recording of “Blue Moon of Kentucky,” the model for Setzer’s performance, is more than 60 years old, and the Bill Monroe original is older still.

But so fervently did Setzer and his band pound out the standard Sunday night at Pier Six Pavilion, where they were first up in a double bill with George Thorogood & The Destroyers, that they made it utterly new. It was like that throughout a 14-song set of rockabilly covers and originals: Men playing like a gang of teenaged boys, scarcely able to contain their glee as they conspired to unleash a secret new sound  on an unsuspecting audience – a sound they knew was going to slay the crowd.

And it did. Setzer is a rockabilly polyglot, fluent in the styles of Scotty Moore, Cliff Gallup and Carl Perkins, among other masters, and facile in country, jazz, surf, rock and shred. He drew on all of them to rev new life into “Great Balls of Fire,” “Folsom Prison Blues” and “Rock This Town.”

Other highlights included his solo interpretation of “Sleep Walk,” the 1959 lullaby by Santo and Johnny, turned inside-out with cascading arpeggios; the haunted house riffs with which he opened “Drive Like Lightning (Crash Like Thunder)”; and “Fishnet Stockings,” with a cute quotation from “Rock Around the Clock.”

What Setzer is to rockabilly, Thorogood is to the electric blues of John Lee Hooker, Howlin’ Wolf and others: A guitar-blazing revivalist whose enthusiasm and showmanship make the music fresh. On Sunday, he dropped a swampy, tremolo-drenched E, let it throb, declared “And away we go,” and launched into his definitive take on Bo Diddley’s “Who Do You Love.”

Thorogood, from Wilmington, Del., is something of a local act; he managed to work Eutaw Street and other Baltimore references into the music. He has a great, rubbery face – he looked at times a little like a bigger, tougher Mick Jagger – and appeared to have a great time leering, preening and popping his eyes at his often off-color commentary.

If you see Thorogood – and you should, he’s great fun – take a look at his right hand. Instead of using a flat pick, like virtually everyone else, Thorogood sort of rubs the strings of his Gibson hollowbody with his fingertips. It’s odd to see, and a difficult way to generate power, but power wasn’t a problem Sunday, as he worked the Destroyers through the pile-driving “I Drink Alone,” “Get A Haircut” and “Gear Jammer.”

The Destroyers, a couple of whom have been with Thorogood since the '70s, were as tight as ever; particularly satisfying was the guitar version of the Strangeloves’ 1965 garage stomper “Night Time,” which hit like a punch in the face.

Read more: Brian Setzer, George Thorogood blaze guitars at Pier Six

George Thorogood is proud to announce his partnership with The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS), to help destroy blood cancers. 

Because of his strong connection, George is proud to support LLS in its goal to find cures and ensure access to treatments for blood cancer patients. 100% of the net proceeds raised through the sales of the Destroyers blood cancer t-shirt will be donated to LLS to help advance breakthrough therapies for blood cancer patients.  LLS is saving lives not someday, but today. 

The shirt will be available at live shows and also in Thorogood's online store.  Click here to purchase.

We have one goal: A world without blood cancers.

About The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society® (LLS) is the world’s largest voluntary health agency dedicated to blood cancer. The LLS mission: Cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and multiple myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. LLS funds lifesaving blood cancer research around the world, provides free information and support services, and is the voice for all blood cancer patients seeking access to quality, affordable, coordinated care.  

 

Founded in 1949 and headquartered in White Plains, NY, LLS has chapters throughout the United States and Canada. To learn more, visit www.LLS.org.   Patients should contact the Information Resource Center at (800) 955-4572, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. ET.

 

 

Courtesy USA Today

On the Road Again, USA TODAY's spotlight on artists on tour, this week looks at bluesy rockers George Thorogood and the Destroyers.

Six-string extravaganza. When George Thorogood and the Destroyers hit the road with Brian Setzer's Rockabilly Riot! May 27 in Red Bank, N.J., concertgoers will get a double shot of rock-and-roll guitar. With hits like Bad to the Bone and One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer, Thorogood bases his sound in Chicago blues and boogie, while Setzer carries the flag for rockabilly. "There's a passion from both angles, but it's a clear-cut distinction of styles," says Thorogood, 65.

Off to a fast start. After playing a few acoustic shows on his own, Thorogood formed the Destroyers in 1973 with drummer Jeff Simon, who still plays with him. The group played its first gig at University of Delaware's Lane Hall. "We had only had one or two practices, and it was kind of a lark," Thorogood says. "When we started playing, the room took off. Jeff and I were quite alarmed by this. We hadn't even done with the first set, and people were going, 'Where are you playing next?'"

Thank goodness for grandmothers. Early in the Destroyers' touring career, the band destroyed the transmission of their used Volkswagen van. Simon's grandmother saved the day by dipping into her pension fund and buying the group a brand-new Chevrolet van. "This is what saved our life," Thorogood says. "We used it as a motel, we practiced our guitars in it, we drove it. Having that happen to us was a big, big break for us."

B-b-b-b-bad. Thorogood wrote signature hit Bad to the Bone after touring with the Rolling Stones and the J. Geils Band in 1981 and realizing he needed a song that would be identifiable from its first notes, like the Stones' (I Can't Get No) Satisfacton or Geils' Centerfold. "I heard them doing that and thought, 'That's what you have to do.' All rock classics have that intro where you immediately turn the radio up and start driving faster."

Hey! Bo Diddley. Thorogood has opened for Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, jammed with Muddy Waters, but Bo Diddley will always have a special place in his heart. "Bo Diddley is one of the people who was close to me, technically," says Thorogood, who played with the first-generation rocker and Albert Collins at Live Aid in 1985 and on several other occasions. "We became, if you can become close to Bo Diddley … let's put it this way: He was always nice to me."

The big game. Like most musicians who've achieved the luxury of taking off days, Thorogood makes a point of not playing on certain anniversaries, birthdays and key family events. And Super Bowl Sunday. "I did a Super Bowl gig once," he says. "That was part of the ticket, to watch the Super Bowl on the big screen, then our band was going to play. Big mistake. First of all, they served a turkey dinner, which has that tryptophan in it that makes you drowsy. And it was a self-seater. And the game went into overtime. By the time we hit the stage, everyone was zonked out."

Read more: On the Road Again: George Thorogood