50/50 Tour Stop: # 50 (Concert # 51)
Date: December 11, 1981
Venue: Perkins Palace. 129 N. Raymond Avenue. Pasadena, CA. 91103.
Find it on Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/Go1emwV548rdE32x6
Venue Exterior:
December 11, 1981:
Source: Bill Blough.
1982:
Source: Facebook
2019:
Venue Interior:
Source: Los Angeles Times. May 13, 1990. Pg. J4.
Source: Los Angeles Times. Nov. 19, 1987. Pg. 6.
Opening Act: Albert Collins.
Above: “The Ice Man” Albert Collins and George Thorogood perform at Live Aid. JFK Stadium. Philadelphia, PA. July 13, 1985. Credit: Ebet Roberts/Getty Images.
Poster / Flyer / Handbill: I have not (yet) come across a poster, flyer or handbill for the Destroyers’ Pasadena 50-50 show. Please get in touch if you have a scan or a photo that you can share.
Press & Promotion: There was a large amount of hype and promotion for the Destroyers’ final 50-50 concert. There was a notably active secondary (i.e., scalper) market for tickets to this show.
Source: BAM. October 23, 1981. Pg. 27.
Source: Los Angeles Times. November 29, 1981. Pg. 70.
Source: Los Angeles Times. November 29, 1981. Pg. 70.
Source: Los Angeles Times. December 6, 1981.
Source: Los Angeles Times. December 6, 1981.
Source: Delaware Morning News. December 10, 1981.
Ticket Price: $9.50/$10.50
Ticket Stub:
Above: The back of my ticket stub to the Destroyers’ 50-50 concert at Perkins Palace is autographed “To Jon” by singer Kim Carnes, best known for her Grammy-winning recording of the song “Bette Davis Eyes”. Ms. Carnes grew up in Pasadena and had recently performed her own concert at Perkins Palace on October 11, 1981.
Source: Pasadena Independent. January 31, 1963. Pg. 9 & Los Angeles Times. October 11, 1981. Pg. 68.
Attendance: 1,800.
Source: Billboard Magazine. December 26, 1981.
Set List:
I can only confirm a partial set list for the Destroyers’ 50-50 concert in Pasadena. Billboard Magazine reported that the Destroyers played a “19-song set” at this show.
- House of Blue Lights
- I’m Wanted
- One Way Ticket
- It Wasn’t Me
- Bottom of the Sea
- Night Time
- I’ll Change My Style
- Can’t Stop Lovin’
- Move It On Over
- Nobody but Me
- No Particular Place to Go
Source: Concert recording & Billboard Magazine. December 26, 1981.
Was the Concert Recorded? Yes. The Destroyers’ 50/50 concert at Perkins Palace was broadcast live on the syndicated King Biscuit Flower Hour radio program.
Source: Los Angeles Times. December 11, 1981.
Above: A vinyl bootleg of the Destroyers’ 50-50 concert at Perkins Palace.
Concert Photos:
Source: George Thorogood & the Destroyers on Facebook
Source: George Thorogood & the Destroyers on Facebook
Source: Desert Sun (Newspaper). December 16, 1981. Pg. C12.
Concert Reaction: Most reviews of the Destroyer’s 50-50 concert in Pasadena focus on the band’s considerable accomplishment of completing the full tour in 50 days, as opposed to delving into the details of the show itself.
An Associated Press report that ran nationally after the Destroyers’ Perkins Palace show had this to say about the evening:
“George Thorogood and the Destroyers might have been tired, but it didn’t show as they blew out the house… Thorogood, maestro of 1950s rock ‘n’ roll, dashed onto the stage, ripping through red, white and blue tape to mark the finale of the precedent-setting tour”.
Source: San Bernardino County Sun. December 13, 1981.
An expanded version of the Associated Press’ wire story about the Destroyers’ show in Pasadena included additional details about the performance:
“Rock star George Thorogood and his band, the Destroyers, wound up a tour through all 50 states early Saturday in Pasadena, Calif., with a show that ended with dancing teen-agers (sic) flooding the stage and a tape-recorded version of the national anthem… Although the band seemed a bit thinner and perhaps a shade more hoarse than when the tour began, Thorogood and his troupe received a great reception.”
Source: Delaware Morning News. December 13, 1981.
Reviewer Cary Darling of Billboard Magazine was less enthusiastic about the Destroyers’ Perkins Palace concert in December 1981:
“Playing to an audience that bordered on the maniacal, Thorogood’s set, which ran more than two hours, was a trying experience for those who don’t see Thorogood as the greatest thing since the invention of the wheel… Thorogood’s chunky slide guitar style and his grating, jagged voice don’t wear well after the first hour. When coupled with extremely loud volume, plus the slight echo which this elegant former movie palace is blessed with, the result is not exactly a great concertgoing [sic] event…”
Source: Billboard Magazine. December 26, 1981.
Other Notes:
Above: Backstage pass for the final concert of the Delaware Destroyers’ 50 50 Tour on December 11, 1981 in Pasadena, California. Source: Bill Blough.
Fate of the Venue: Perkins Palace was renovated and briefly reopened as The Raymond Theatre in 1990. The site closed as a concert venue in 1991. After an extended fight to preserve the building as a concert hall, the site was redeveloped as an apartment complex with accompanying retail and restaurant space.
Source: http://hometown-pasadena.com/history/remembering-pasadena%E2%80%99s-palace-of-rock/11578
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