George Thorogood has baseball on his mind more than usual. The Mets, his favorite team, are the hottest team in baseball and on their way to their first postseason in nearly a decade.
“[Success] is standard stuff for the Yankees, but for the Mets, holy smokes,” Thorogood says.
Success has been “standard stuff” since Thorogood’s earliest gigs in rinkydink bars that peppered the University of Delaware college town of Newark. After more than 40 years, the rocker has sold over 15 million albums, released 15 records, played thousands of concerts and still has a healthy following worldwide.
Thorogood, who played second base in the Roberto Clemente semi-pro league in his native Wilmington, Delaware during the band’s first few years, doesn’t take anything for granted. In order to explain his music’s mass appeal, he has to double back to baseball.
“I’m a high-energy guy and Jeff [Simon] is a power drummer,” he says. “It’s like one guy is Pete Rose and the other is Harmon Killebrew. There’s a passion and energy level of our act that has never gone away, and it’s been that way since the get go.”
The three shows Thorogood and the Destroyers sold out at Salinas’ Fox Theater over the past five years were nonstop rock-and-roll marathons highlighted by the frontman’s tireless showmanship and a repertoire of songs – mostly covers of old blues and rockabilly tunes – that have become the band’s brand.
The Delaware outfit’s Golden State Theatre debut Wednesday will likely deliver on everything a Thorogood fan craves: From “Bad to the Bone” and “Who Do You Love” to “One, Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer” and “I Drink Alone.”
Thorogood, who won’t deny or admit that he’s now 65 years old, seamlessly circles back to the American Pastime to explain how he keeps touring.
“The thrill of getting paid to play baseball never left Willie Mays,” he says. “That’s kind of like us. I wake up every day and say, ‘I’m going to get paid to play rock and roll tonight.’ Even Obama can’t say that.”
GEORGE THOROGOOD AND THE DESTROYERS 8pm Wednesday, Sept. 23. Golden State Theatre, 417 Alvarado St., Monterey. $58-$79.www.goldenstatetheatre.com