This is one of a series of posts expanding on my 50 States in 50 Dates blog by documenting the global touring adventures of George Thorogood and the Delaware Destroyers and the earlier years of their career.
Quick Links:
MGM Grand Hotel.
Date: March 23, 1980.
Venue: MGM Grand Hotel. Grand Ballroom. 3645 South Las Vegas Boulevard. Las Vegas, NV. 89109. USA.
This performance was part of the National Association of Recording Merchandisers’ (NARM) 22nd Annual Convention.
Find it on Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/ftYdjCi1UMUot8Am6
Venue Exterior:
1980:
2021:
Venue Interior:
1970s:
Opening Act: None.
The Destroyers replaced the Eagles as the Sunday night headliner for the convention. Other performers at the 1980 NARM Convention included Kenny Rogers, the Commodores, the Captain and Tennille, and the Oak Ridge Boys.
Source: Billboard Magazine. April 5, 1980. Pg. 29.
Poster / Flyer / Handbill: I have not (yet) come across a poster, flyer or handbill for the Destroyers’ show at the MGM Grand Hotel and Convention Center. Please get in touch if you have a scan or a photo that you can share.
Press & Promotion:
Above: Advertisement for the 1980 NARM Annual Convention in Las Vegas. Source: Cash Box. January 12, 1980. Pg. 11.
Source: Variety. March 19, 1980. Pg. 134.
Source: Record World. March 22, 1980. Pg. 18.
Source: Cash Box. March 29, 1980. Pg. 88.
Above: Excerpt from the 1980 NARM convention’s official agenda. Source: Cash Box. March 29, 1980. Pg. 124.
Ticket Price: Unknown.
Ticket Stub: I have yet to see a ticket stub for this concert. If you have a scan or a photo to share, please send me a note.
Attendance: Unknown. There were 2,000 attendees at the 1980 NARM Annual Convention in Las Vegas, but not all of them attended the Sunday night reception and concert. Billboard Magazine reported that the band performed to “a respectable crowd”.
Source: Cash Box. April 5, 1980. & Billboard Magazine. April 5, 1980. Pp. 27 & 29.
Set List:
- King of the Road (Roger Miller).
The Destroyers played two sets.
Source: Billboard Magazine. April 5, 1980. Pg. 29.
Was the Concert Recorded? Unknown. Please get in touch if you have any information.
Concert Photos:
Source: Billboard Magazine. April 5, 1980. Pg. 26.
Source: Cash Box. April 5, 1980. Pg. 38.
Source: Facebook.
Concert Reaction:
Roman Kozak of Billboard Magazine provides some additional details about the Destroyers performance at the 1980 NARM convention in a larger article about the changing musical tastes of the day:
“Where last year the closest NARM entertainment got to rock was Willie Nelson performing at a luncheon, this year NARM went out of its way to get a rock’n’roller on stage. The convention tried to get the Eagles, couldn’t, but was happy to get George Thorogood instead…
Joe Cohen, vice president of NARM, saw George Thorogood at a Record Bar convention and asked Rounder Records, his small independent label, if he would be available. He was. He and his band showed up wearing obvious Rent-A-Tux suits apparently thinking they were all playing a wedding. “What do all you people do for a living?” he innocently asked during his show.
Unlike the other acts at the convention which immediately followed their record company-sponsored dinners and […] played to a captive audience, Thorogood had to attract his own crowd. There was a 90-minute gap between the end of the opening night cocktail party and the start of Thorogood’s performance. But competing with everything else there is in Vegas, he attracted a respectable crowd, most of which sat through two sets.”
Source: Billboard Magazine. April 5, 1980. Pg. 29.
Other Notes:
Above: Hank Carter, Bill Blough and George Thorogood show off their NARM tuxedos. “It was prom week and we could only find [two] black tuxes.”
Source: Facebook.
Above: Commemorative t-shirt from the March 1980 NARM convention in Las Vegas.
Fate of the Venue:
On November 21, 1980, the original MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas was the site of a horrific fire that killed 85 people. At the time, it was the second deadliest hotel fire in U.S. history. The MGM Grand was rebuilt with new fire safety features in 1981. The hotel was bought in 1986 and renamed Bally’s Las Vegas. As of this writing, Bally’s Las Vegas Hotel and Casino continues to operate at this location.
Please note that the current MGM Grand Hotel is an entirely different building, located on a different part of the Las Vegas strip.
Source: Oakland Tribune. Nov. 22, 1980. Pg. 1.
Source: Reno Gazette Journal. Nov. 21, 1980. Pg. 1.
Source: University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) Archives.
50 States in 50 Dates 
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