While George Thorogood’s latest album is a solo project titled Party of One, the legendary guitarist made the guest list open ended for the fist pumping crowd at the Saban Theatre.
While Thorogood and his long time band of Destroyers are able to get the crowd on its feet and staying there for stomping boogies like “Rock Party” and “Get A Haircut,” what’s not appreciated about the six stringer is that he’s one of the last remaining bonafide torch carriers of the blues. He can growl with the best as his guitar wails on the ominously relentless “Who Do You Love” and makes you feel like you’re in a juke joint on the South Side of Chicago with “Help Me.”
In naval terms, a Destroyer is a fast, maneuverable long endurance warship, and Jeff Simon/dr, Billy Blough/b, Jim Suhler/g and Buddy Leach/ts-as have been together long enough to rock steady on the 60s classic “Night Time” or deliver a stark shuffle on “B.S. and Beer” with Leach knowing when to form a double team with the leader or sear through the groove on his own as on the greasy “Bad to the Bone.”
And for all the raucous extroversion of the leader, what lays underneath is a serious picker. His moved along the neck with the speed of a chiropractor with his slide guitar on the blistering “Gear Jammer” while his mixing of thumb and finger maneuvers during “Move It On Over” was as intricate as anything you’d see in a Les Paul video.
While boasting of partying until it’s “barely legal,” he’s a strong enough family man to bring his daughter Rio on stage for a fun fested take of (what else?) “These Boots Are Made For Walking” and while closing with themes such as “Born to Be Bad,” any man that’s stayed faithful as a father and husband, as well as to not only the blues tradition but its loyal fans, must have some good inside that marrow.
Upcoming shows at the Canyon Club, Saban and Rose include Marshall Tucker Band 10/08 & 13, The Drifters 10/14-15 and Robben Ford w/ Stanley Jordan 10/21