George Thorogood and The Destroyers, who were out on good behaviour, according to Thorogood, strutted onto the CN Centre stage Wednesday as only a classic rock group can.
But first Devon Coyote opened the show with some great rocker tunes, including Always in the Grey, Lost and Found and Little Hero.
Good opener to set the rock tone sure to come from Thorogood.
And he didn't disappoint.
When the old-school rock star took to the stage singing Born To Be Bad, he was on his toes, reaching out to greet the audience in the traditional way with arms stretched out ahead of him pointing to the back rows in the concert bowl holding 2,600 audience members.
Thorogood engaged the audience, quickly including Prince George in the lyrics as he brought the rock heat, kissing his guitar and whipping off his sunglasses during Rock Party.
I can't say enough about his classic rock moves, the strut, the mini head bobs in time to the music, the shimmy shake of the guitar, the turns. Even the swish of his tail feathers as he sang Who Do You Love made me laugh with delight because we all just wanted to join him in the time warp when he was hot, hot, hot. Thorogood kept to what he knows was key to the trip down the rock classic lane and it made us love him even more for not trying to reinvent the wheel.
Thorogood is so charming that even when he took off the bandana and combed his hair, it engaged the audience.
Outstanding saxophone player, who Thorogood calls The New Kid in Town on the band's web site, is Buddy Leach, member of The Destroyers since 2003.
I'm not sure why the saxophone seems to make every band sound fantastic but it really brings those goosebumps to your arms like no other instrument and Leach sure did rock it during the concert.
And talk about engaging the audience, people went nuts when Thorogood sang I Drink Alone followed by One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer, a John Lee Hooker cover.
It was a great show, with Thorogood performing what the audience knew and loved of his work, Get A Haircut, Bad to the Bone followed by encore Madison Blues that left the audience all revved up.
