He definitely was not alone because he brought his killer band of Destoyers with him! Jeff Simon manned the skins,  Bill Blough on bass, bad ass Jim Suhler on rhythm guitar and smokin’ Buddy Leach on saxophone form a solid rhytym and blues band to back up GT on his mean slide guitar. We’ve seen this outfit many times, but this night was indeed different.

Thorogood came out energized and his voice couldn’t be any better than it is right now. The lighting was a photographer’s dream with plenty of sharp white beams and a protected wall to nail some killer moments from a sweaty hot show. Plus, the multiple video screens enhanced the show without detracting from it at all.

Blazing and at full throttle are a couple ways to describe this gig from the get go. I know it is a tired cliche, but GT and his mates really seemed to be having a blast on stage paying tribute to their legacy by rolling out the big numbers one after another.

“Who Do You Love”, “Night Time” with playful George tossing in at the end “I wanna be with you-and your girlfriend, too” and of course “I Drink Alone” where the 40 and over crowd bellowed out the lyrics word for word! GT was slippin’ and slidin’ up and down the neck of his mean Gibson ES-125 guitar more than the slip ‘n slide water slide I did as a kid on my front lawn in the 60’s!

The opening narrative to “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer” never gets old, epic “Get A Haircut”, steamy “Move It On Over” and “Twenty Dollar Gig” where GT put down the axe and tossed in some groovy dance moves!

Crowd favorite “Bad to the Bone” had me turn back the clock to old MTV video days as they showed him with Bo Diddley playing pool. It was a big reminder that everybody on the screen and in the building had aged some, but having fun clapping and dancing the night away made ya feel young at heart for sure.

At my desk I have a sticker that proclaims GT & The Destroyers as the World’s Greatest Bar Band. After the building was shaken this evening that monikor is not going any place else quite yet. Here’s to another 40 years guys and hope to see you in year 41 in 2015…Get off your duff and go see some stuff people!