George Thorogood New Zealand Tour

Auckland Town Hall stage is a hunk of wood where my mum and dad saw Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Muddy Waters and the Rolling Stones play as some of the incredible acts that came through Aotearoa in the late 60s early 70s. 

In more recent times I was lucky enough to invite my late father to a thanksgiving dinner on that same stage with Garth Hudson and John Simon as part of the tribute to the Last Waltz we did with Liberty Stage. 

I got to speak with George about John Lee Hooker, Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley as he had worked with all these legends. “We all had one thing in common, we all wanted to be bad. We weren’t but we all wanted to be!”  On this New Zealand tour it was amazing to keep realising who this guy was and the role he played in keeping blues alive kept sinking in. At first I was skeptical but the more time I got to spend talking to him the more I realised how important his role in modern blues is. I asked him about John Lee Hooker as the Hook is one of my all time favourite players and one of the originals. George told me that if you had a problem and you went round to John Lee’s house, after an hour you would have forgotten what it was altogether. I just couldnt believe he had met him. 

On the Auckland gig he asked me to come play the last song of the show with the Destroyers. I couldnt help but think of the role that Town Hall  stage has played in my life from before it started right up to now. I could feel the energy as I played with George and the band, passing from the band to the audience and back round inside the room. It felt like it filled the room right up to the high ceiling. Later I couldnt sleep wondering about significant geographical locations as this one seems to keep coming back. Some mojo hand magic afoot.