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:
Summerfest Main Stage.
Date: July 5, 1982.
Venue: Summerfest Main Stage. 200 N Harbor Dr. Milwaukee, WI. 53202. USA.
Find it on Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/p6zCZqxH7AWCr5W19
Venue Exterior:
1983:
Source: Milwaukee Public Library.
1980s:
2021:
Opening Act:
Joe Ely Band.
Source: Janette Beckman/Getty Images.
Gary U.S. Bonds.
Poster / Flyer / Handbill: I am still looking for a poster, flyer or handbill for this concert. Please send me a note if you have a photo to share.
Press & Promotion:
Source: Chicago Metro News. June 19, 1982. Pg. 16.
Source: Chicago Metro News. June 19, 1982. Pg. 16.
Source: Milwaukee Sentinel. June 18, 1982. Pg. 15.
Source: Milwaukee Sentinel. July 5, 1982. Pg. 14.
Source: Milwaukee Sentinel. July 5, 1982. Pg. 16.
Ticket Price: $5.00 for full paid admission; $1.00 for admission with an ‘Early Bird Coupon’ that required entry to the Summerfest grounds before 1pm.
Source: Milwaukee Sentinel. July 3, 1982. Pg. 5-1.
Ticket Stub: Admission to the Summerfest grounds in the early 1980s included first come, first serve admission to the festival’s concerts and entertainment that day. I have yet to see an admission ticket to Summerfest from July 5, 1982. If you have a scan or a photo to share, please send me a note.
Attendance: 18,000.
Source: Milwaukee Journal. July 6, 1981. Pg. 7.
Set List:
Gary U.S. Bonds:
- Jole Blon.
- Daddy’s Come Home.
- This Little Girl.
- Out of Work.
- Quarter to Three (with Joe Ely).
- Down in New Orleans (with Joe Ely).
George Thorogood and the Destroyers:
- The Sky is Crying.
- Nobody but Me.
Blues legend John Lee Hooker joined the Destroyers on stage during one of their “many” encores.
Source: Milwaukee Journal. July 6, 1981. Pg. 7 & Milwaukee Sentinel. July 6, 1982. Pg. 6-2.
Was the Concert Recorded? Unknown.
Concert Photos:
Source: Milwaukee Sentinel. July 6, 1982. Pg. 6-2.
Concert Reaction:
Divina Infusino of the Milwaukee Journal wrote about all three acts appearing on the Summerfest Main Stage on July 5, 1982 in Milwaukee:
“Setting the tone was Ely, an Austin, Texas, rockabilly maniac who turned out to be the surprise hit of the evening. With a six-piece band, including an accordion, saxophone and keyboard player, Ely picked at every grass root of American music — Memphis country, Western swing, 50s rock ‘n’ roll, and delta blues — and threw them into a modern, unified, rough-riding context.
Hair slicked back, dressed in cowboy black, Ely exuded a barefaced wildness, rampaging over stage, audience and music. Ely’s voice just couldn’t leave a melody line alone. He stuttered it to a climax and hiccupped it for emphasis. When that didn’t work, he yelped or howled. When he unplugged his microphone while charging down the stage hill toward the audience, his screams became silent ecstasy. Meanwhile his band coiled the music into a taut spring, then released the tension with tight but unbridled fury. The crowd went crazy and unexpectedly demanded an encore.
Then, veteran rocker Bonds took the stage, his head arched to the sky, his face grinning wide. When Bruce Springsteen pulled Bonds out of the low-rent, lounge act circuit two years ago, he set Bonds up for stardom… Bonds evoked Springsteen’s name more than once during his 90-minute show. Yet, despite the arrangements’ indelible Springsteen trademarks of wailing sax and New Orleans rhythms, this was definitely a Bonds show, one performed with whole-hearted enthusiasm, sincerity and a voice that sounded just as good as when it first filled the airwaves in 1961...
One wondered whether George Thorogood and the Destroyers could top the two opening acts. In previous years, Thorogood was a hot, rhythm and blues guitarist who played with all his might, but eventually grew tedious. Just back from opening for the Rolling Stones’ European tour, Thorogood had obviously gained some new expertise. This time, he worked his guitar in tandem with a saxophone player, creating new peaks, valleys and dynamics in his music.
Thorogood continued like this for two hours, starting slow and gaining momentum, with only a brief lag of tension in the set.., George Thorogood always wanted to be Chuck Berry. Now he’s learning to be himself.”
Source: Milwaukee Journal. July 6, 1982. Pg. 7.
Joe Cannariato of the Milwaukee Sentinel wrote these words about the Destroyers’ concert at Summerfest in July 1982:
“It couldn’t have been better. Pleasant summer weather combined with superb performances by George Thorogood and the Destroyers, Gary U.S. Bonds and the Joe Ely Band on Summerfest’s Main Stage Monday night.
About 18,000 people partied — there’s no other way to describe the fun the spectators were having — to three outstanding acts. It was a night of rock ‘n’ roll the way it should be...
From the first note, Thorogood was white-hot. Dressed in a red and white striped sequined tuxedo jacket, blue T-shirt and white pants and shoes for Independence Day, the lightning-fast guitarist hopped, kicked, strutted, danced and Chuck Berry-one-foot-bopped-it for more than two hours of sizzling rock, country and rhythm and blues.
Thorogood delighted the crowd by changing the lyrics of every song to include a Milwaukee reference. It was his guitar playing, however, that hypnotized the audience. From country chops to mournful R&B wails to energetic classic rock ‘n’ roll licks, Thorogood made his guitar talk.”
Source: Milwaukee Sentinel. July 6, 1982. Pg. 6-2.
Other Notes: None.
Fate of the Venue: To meet high public demand and accommodate even larger crowds, this version of the Summerfest Main Stage was replaced by the Marcus Amphitheater in 1987.
Source: Onmilwaukee.com
Oscar Mayer Theater.
Date: October 30, 1982.
Venue: Oscar Mayer Theater. Madison Civic Center. 211 State St. Madison, WI. 53703. USA.
Find it on Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/xGqTWYhvyszQoUf56
Venue Exterior:
1980:
Source: University of Wisconsin. Badger yearbook. 1980. Pg. 85.
2021:
Venue Interior:
1980:
Source: Wisconsin State Journal Archives.
Opening Act: Unknown.
Poster / Flyer / Handbill:
Press & Promotion:
Source: The Capital Times. Oct. 5, 1982. Pg. 16.
Source: Wisconsin State Journal. Oct. 7, 1982. Pg. 5-3.
Source: Wisconsin State Journal. Oct. 10, 1982. Pg. 7-8.
Source: The Daily Tribune. Oct. 21, 1982. Pg. 9.
Source: Wisconsin State Journal. Oct. 24, 1982. Pg. 6-3.
Ticket Price: $8.50 and $9.50.
Ticket Stub:
Attendance: 2,200.
Source: Wisconsin State Journal. Nov. 1, 1982.
Set List:
- Back to Wentzville.
- One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer.
- New Boogie Chillun.
- Bad to the Bone.
- Wanted Man.
- I’ve Changed My Style.
- Madison Blues.
- Monster Mash (encore).
- Reelin’ and Rockin’ (encore).
Source: Wisconsin State Journal. Nov. 1, 1982 & The Capital Times. Nov. 1, 1982. Pg. 36.
Was the Concert Recorded? Unknown.
Concert Photos: I am still looking for any photos of this performance. Please send me a note if you know of any.
Concert Reaction:
Victoria McGlothren of the Wisconsin State Journal filed this report about the Destroyers’ October 1982 concert in Madison:
“Thorogood’s dexterous mastery of his cream-colored Gibson guitar thrilled the eyes, but the persistent high volume assaulted the ears, and put a heavy-metal taint on his swinging rock and sultry blues.
A king would have incorporated dynamics – loud and soft, for example – into his art. Playing to a packed house in the 2,200-seat Oscar Mayer Theater, Thorogood declared midway through the concert, “If it ain’t loud, it ain’t rock ‘n’ roll.”
[…]
With the raucous “One Bourbon, One Shot, One Beer,” Thorogood and Hank (Hurricane) Carter on saxophone demonstrated the theatrics that have made the group popular with concert goers. The pair fought a sort of musical battle with Thorogood playing a lick bringing Carter to his knees, then Carter repeating the strain “pummeling” Thorogood with repetition.
Many music lovers in the theater were clad in costumes, including Thorogood who sported a black t-shirt with a white skeleton screen-printed on it. His face was painted black-and-white to match. Several times throughout the evening, Thorogood yelled, “Man, I love Halloween.” He went on to prove it during one of his two encores by playing “Monster Mash.”
Source: Wisconsin State Journal. Nov. 1, 1982.
Reviewer Phil Davis of the Capitol Times had this to say about the Destroyers’ concert in the Oscar Mayer Theater in 1982:
“Not to be outdone by such Halloween celebrants as a pregnant, cigar-chomping nun or a super-strength Tylenol capsule, Thorogood hit the stage in his own costume – a hobgoblin muumuu and deep pile fright wig. His three piece band, the Destroyers – Jeff Simon, drums, Bill Blough, bass, and Hank Carter, saxophone – were similarly attired. And for the next few hours Thorogood demonstrated why as an opener on the last [Rolling] Stones tour it had been necessary to give him an extra half hour of stage time: the crowds can’t seem to get enough of his rollicking, firebrand rock.
Although Thorogood works within a limited musical scope […] he’s such an effusive, exuberantly believable personality he can make each number seem distinctly different. Whether duckwalking across the stage, reaching out above the heads of the fans and anointing them with his guitar neck, or simply reveling in the delicious cacophony of his own razor-edged guitar noise, Thorogood always seem to be having the time of his life. And it’s infectious.
Sure, there were moments when the blues progressions seemed to blur into one overlong 12 bar boogie-fest. But Bach can get pretty repetitive too. And when Thorogood hit the bone-pulverizing groove of Bo Diddley’s “Who Do You Love,” he struck a mainline of primal feeling and rhythm. It was beautifully unexplainable. Like love. Like life.”
Source: The Capital Times. Nov. 1, 1982. Pg. 36.
Other Notes: None.
Fate of the Venue: The Madison Civic Center, including the Oscar Mayer Theatre, underwent a major renovation in 2006. At the time of this writing, the Oscar Mayer Theatre is now known as the Capitol Theater and operates as part of the Overture Center for the Arts.
50 States in 50 Dates 
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