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Encore 2
American Made | Madison Blues

George Thorogood took Wichita, Kansas by storm on March 6^th celebrating his 35^th year in the music biz, touting that George Thorogood & the Delaware Destroyers are the best bar band of all time. More than 2,000 Wichitans crowed into the Cotillion Ballroom to help George prove his claim to be true. The Cotillion is a throwback to the old school. Built in 1960, the venue has the same powder blue paint, the same ugly curtains separating the front of house from the backstage area and the same band shell over the stage that it had forty-eight years ago. The smoke in the venue is horrific and the beer lines too long but that is nothing compared to the fact that the ballroom has only one bathroom each for the boys and girls in attendance. Despite all the burning eyes and full bladders, everyone was in a jovial mood waiting for the man in black to take the stage.

The lights went down and two video screens on both sides of the stage lit up. A commercial played letting everyone know that the band was selling merchandise and previewed what could be purchased. After the hard sell was completed, Thorogood took the stage and opened with "Rock Party" from his latest album The Hard Stuff. The upbeat rocker got the crowd on their feet and provided the good time feeling that would last the entire evening. Thorogood is a ham on stage and moves his body and guitar in quirky jerks to the beat of the song even throwing in a few leg kicks. At one point during the show a bra was flung on stage. George stopped and scanned the audience for the woman and shouted, "Doesn’t it feel great to feel seventeen again!" The classic "Who Do You Love" was followed by the bluesy "The Fixer" and the classic song "Night Time" which featured an awesome sax solo. Thorogood followed the song with one of his most famous tunes, "I Drink Alone." The band jammed and extended the tune into a ferocious rocker. Next up was the highlight of the entire evening, the classic John Lee Hooker song "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer." Thorogood kept the crowd rockin’ as he told the story of being late on rent, throwing in a few ‘mother humper’ references along the way.

The main set ended with four Thorogood classics and a huge singalong by the crowd. "Get a Haircut" was followed by "Bad to the Bone" and "Gear Jammer" while "Move It On Over" ended the main set. The crowd howled for more and it didn’t take the band long to reappear and keep the show going. "Love Doctor" and the classic hit "You Talk Too Much" were played to thunderous applause as Thorogood thanked everyone for coming out to attend his "jamboree and hootinaney." He waved goodbye but was brought out once more for a second encore, this time playing one of his newer tracks, the patriotic "American Made" followed by 1977's "Madison Blues." The venue turned the house lights on to signal the band to quit playing. Thorogood ignored them and kept on jamming until he was ready to call it a night. The entire performance was energetic, raucous and wonderful. Thorogood danced in circles, kicked his legs and shook to the beat the entire evening. His voice is in great shape and his attitude is 100% cocky rebel rocker.

I brought two friends with me to the show, Kelly Borror and Doug Schreffler. We stopped backstage and met with George in the hallway outside of his dressing room. Geoge shook Doug’s hand and then mine. He extended his hand to Kelly before noticing he was wearing a New York Yankee’s hat. At the point George withdrew his greeting and said, "Not for you" pointing to Kelly’s head. Thorogood discussed how the business of music has changed over the years and how hard it is to get his new songs on the radio. He said new music was not his cup of tea and how every great song was written between 1966 and 1986. Thorogood grinned and said, "It just doesn’t get any better than ‘Jumping Jack Flash.’"

We continued chatting and George took time to sign a few autographs. Kelly had brought a copy of Born to Be Bad and Thorogood held it up and said, "I consider this and Ride Till I Die to be the best two albums I have ever done." On our way out I commented on the western black poncho that Thorogood was wearing. He smiled and said, "You like that, huh? Lee Marvin gave this to me." I replied back surprised, "Really?" "No," Thorogood said with his famous wide toothed grin, "But it sure sounds good."

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