He may be an archetypal all-American figure but every few years George Thorogood, with his Destroyers, makes his way across the pond with that distinctive retooling of old blues songs for the classic rock generation. Since they were last here in 2022 he has overcome some health issues and at 76 there must be a limit to how many more times he can come over, so his first London show in four years was a must see, albeit across town at the Indigo2 rather than his usual haunt of Shepherds Bush Empire.

After a truly excellent playlist reminding us this was a night for blues rock, there was a short-ish support slot from Jared James Nichols, who has been a regular visitor in the UK over the past decade, during which I’ve seen him numerous times at festivals or in support slots.

Leading a tight power trio with Brian Weaver and Ryan Rice, he is on the heavier end of the genre, reminding me of the likes of Mountain and Pat Travers. However though his riffing was as incendiary as ever, a set which drew heavily on his new ‘Louder Than Fate’ record showed improvements in the songwriting on the likes of ‘Let’s Go’, ‘Ghost’ and ‘Way Back’.

The excellent ‘Killing Time’ showed a more thoughtful and mellow side to him I hadn’t been aware of before, while the boogie-ish ‘Baby Can You Feel It’, complete with singalong and ‘Runnin’ Hot’, hard-hitting yet with catchy ‘who-oahs’ both had commercial appeal before closing with the slower riffery of ‘Keep Your Light On Mama’. Allied to his exuberant personality and stage presence, he was a yes from me, and many others.

I would surmise most of the crowd had seen George Thorogood and the Destroyers before, so it would come as no surprise to see the headband wearing frontman come on stage with a big grin and booming out his ‘how sweet it is!’ catchphrase. They opened with a lengthy ‘Rock Party’, which was a good showcase for how well the Destroyers play together, hardly surprising given that some of them have given 50 years service. It featured tidy solos from sax player Buddy Leach, George, and his guitar partner Jim Suhler who in the first half of the set took a surprising number of solos with a cleaner tone than the boss on his Les Paul.

George appeared to be having a ball during ‘Who Do You Love’, though some of his mincing walks and knowing gestures at the crowd reminded me of the late great Frankie Howerd. After a relatively lesser known song in ‘Why Don’t You Talk To Your Daughter’, he came out with his over familiar yet lovable schtick about doing everything in his power to get arrested and that the Destroyers had been allowed out on probation, as well as a Blues Brothers-style quip that they played two types of music- ‘rock’ and ‘roll’.

The musical greatest hits were also out in force, ‘I Drink Alone’ giving way to eleven minutes of improvisation, blues and humour during ‘One Bourbon One Scotch One Beer’, while a cover of Johnny Cash’s ‘Cocaine Blues’ was in a similar mould.

After a brief instrumental interlude from The Destroyers, he returned with a different guitar and the more satisfying second half saw George’s slide guitar prowess more to the fore, beginning with ‘Gear Jammer’ where he and Buddy fed off each other brilliantly. The lyrics of ‘Get a Haircut’ have never failed to tickle me since I first saw him on my travels in America 25 years or so ago, though I was struck by the similarity in structure to the Georgia Satellites ‘Keep Your Hands to Yourself’.

There were more slide showcases: I was delighted he slipped in ‘Madison Blues’ which had been omitted from previous times I’d seen him, complete with at least one false ending, before his signature song in ‘Bad to the Bone’. By this stage though songs were becoming increasingly drawn out, not so much musically but with George frequently beside himself with laughter and bantering with the audience, sadly the exact nature of the heckles not apparent from my perch up in the balcony.

He briefly left the stage and returned without a guitar to lead the band romping through a cover of ‘Gloria’ in typically tight fashion, before more supercharged slide playing enlivened another of his classics in ‘Move It On Over’. With Jared James Nichols joining the fun, there was again no need for George’s guitar on an encore of ‘Born to be Bad’, giving him full reign to ham it up on stage.

That continued as a rendition of ‘God Save the King’ rang out at the end and a roadie motioned to put a towel around the singer as if it was a monarchical robe. At an hour and 35 minutes this was longer than most of his recent shows, and with all the classics I hoped to hear: it may have been the same old schtick, but that is part of his endearing and enduring appeal. Long may this great character continue to rock- and roll !

Review and Photos by Andy Nathan

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

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Power Plays w/c 6 July 2026

VELVET RUSH Nature Of The Beast (Frontiers)
BEN POOLE No Second Chances (indie)
THE DEAD REDS Empire (Regni Records)
THE WLDLFE No Sleep (Riser House Records)
JANE AND THE KILLER QUEENS Body Horror (indie)
ESCAPE THE HIVE Around The Sun (Deko Entertainment)
ELYSION Guardian Angel (Massacre Records)

Featured Albums w/c 6 July 2026

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Singer Songwriter)

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