To commemorate his 50th anniversary, George Thorogood is going on tour with his longtime backing band The Destroyers in 2023.
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The North American leg of the Bad All Over the World – 50 Years of Rock Tour will include Thorogood’s first Canadian dates in three years. Kicking off in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida on Feb. 13, the tour will hit 15 cities before concluding on May 17 in Ontario. (More dates are expected to be added and announced soon.)
Thorogood, 72, played his first with Destroyers on Dec. 1, 1973, performing some of their classics like “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer” and “Madison Blues.” At first, the band left the audience unimpressed, according to drummer Jeff Simon, the only remaining founding member of the band.
“It was like someone flipped a switch,” said Simon. By the second set, the dance floor was packed. “After the gig,” Thorogood added, “Jeff and I thought, ‘Maybe we’re onto something.’”
Thorogood recently cited Simon with helping to shift the direction of the band in a positive way. “I was a little too serious,” said Thorogood in a 2022 interview. “Jeff was trying to lighten me up a little bit, saying, ‘You know, George, there’s only one Taj Mahal. There’s only one John Hammond.’ Jeff said, ‘Be George. Be what you are.’ He was the one who encouraged me and helped me to find myself as a performer.”
Also backed by long-time Destroyers Bill Blough, Jim Suhler, and Buddy Leach, the Bad All Over The World Tour is a celebration of 8,000 live shows, and 15 million records sold.
“From that very first show, we’ve stayed true to ourselves and the music we love,” said Thorogood, who released his most recent, and 11th album with The Destroyers, 2120 South Michigan Ave in 2011 and his debut solo album, Party of One, in 2017. “We’ve decided to celebrate our first half-century by throwing the biggest and baddest rock party ever.”
George Thorogood, Bad All Over the World – 50 Years of Rock Tour 2023
Feb. 13 – Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. @ Rock Legends Cruise
Feb. 17 – Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. @ Rock Legends Cruise
March 17 – Lincoln City, Ore. @ Chinook Winds Casino Resort.
March 18 – Lincoln City, Ore. @ Chinook Winds Casino Resort
March 19 – Airway Heights, Wash. @ Northern Quest Resort & Casino
March 21 – Redding, Calif. @ Redding Civic Auditorium
March 22 – Santa Rosa, Calif. @ Luther Burbank Center for the Arts.
March 24 – Highland, Calif. @ Yaamava’ Resort & Casino
March 25 – Las Vegas, Nev. @ Pearl Theater at Palms Casino Resort
April 27 – Vancouver, British Columbia @ Commodore Ballroom
April 28 – Vancouver, British Columbia @ Commodore Ballroom
April 29 – Penticton, British Columbia @ Trade and Convention Centre
April 30 – Prince George, British Columbia @ CN Centre
May 2 – Grand Prairie, Alberta @ Bonnetts Energy Centre
May 4 – Edmonton, Alberta @ The Venue at River Cree
May 5 – Calgary, Alberta @ Grey Eagle Resort & Casino Event Centre
May 6 – Regina, Saskatchewan @ Casino Regina
May 8 – Saskatoon, Saskatchewan @ TCU Place
May 9 – Winnipeg, Manitoba @ Burton Cummings Theatre
May 12 – Sudbury, Ontario @ Sudbury Arena
May 13 – Peterborough, Ontario @ Peterborough Memorial Centre
May 14 – Montreal, Quebec @ MTelus
May 16 – Kitchener, Ontario @ Centre in the Square
May 17 – Niagara Falls, Ontario @ Fallsview Casino Resort
Photo by Mat Hayward/Getty Images
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