Joe Cocker, George Thorogoodand The Destroyers @ BrisbaneEntertainment Centre(04/02/2011)

Sun 6th Feb, 2011 in Gig Reviews

It’s summer in Brisbane and I’ve opted for the more grown-up musical experience on offer today, choosing to relax in air-conditioned comfort at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre, while other friends were collapsing from heatstroke down the road at Laneway Festival. I grab a cider in a classy plastic cup and mosey on in to see George Thorogood and the Destroyers, who are opening for Joe Cocker tonight.

George Thorogood struts onto stage in his white sneakers, black jeans, singlet and bandana, hollers, ‘It’s a Friday night rock party and I’m here to get dirty with you!’ and immediately cranks into a set of dirty blues rock that ends up topping 80 minutes with a couple of encores. Chuck Berry inspired guitar solos come thick and fast, amongst some deliciously cheesy choreographed stage moves. A personal highlight was watching the band duck waddle from the drum riser to the front of stage in the middle of a particular shredding guitar solo. Get A Real Job was apparently the serious song of the night. No prizes for guessing the crowd favourite; 1982 hit, Bad To The Bone, had people in the aisles waving their bourbon and shaking their mullets.

A wise man once said to me, ‘It is the duty of all Gen-Y’ers to experience the great Baby Boomer legends at least once before they die out’. As the stage is changed over, I am reminded of his words, while looking around at the motley variety of people from all generations and walks of life filtering into the centre. The thing about Joe Cocker that I find interesting is that he has made his career mostly through singing covers, And his voice isn’t one that would be referred to as pleasant. It seems an enigma as to how a guy with a gravelly, almost choked voice (due in part to his drinking and drug abuse back in the day), singing other people’s songs, became such a star.

My ponderings come to a swift end as Joe saunters on stage with his eight-piece band and launches straight into proceedings. Get On, taken from current release, Hard Knocks opens the set, followed quickly by two killer classics, Feelin’ Alright and The Letter. All thought of who wrote the songs and whether it’s okay to sing covers has gone by now, as I’m taken with the crowd into a place of nostalgic memory and classic hits radio. The set continued with new track, Unforgiven squeezed in before Summer In The City.

Slowing down the pace, anthemic love song, Up Where We Belong is goosebump worthy. If you haven’t seen the film, ‘An Officer and a Gentleman’, get it, watch it, listen to the song, and then you will understand why an arena full of 20 – 60 somethings loved it! Following with You Are So Beautiful was nice, apart from an obvious struggle for Joe to hit the high notes. No one cared though, with thunderous cheering drowning out the very last bung note.

Title track, Hard Knocks took things back up to party speed, followed by Hitchcock Railway and the first of three Beatles covers. Come Together rounded up the set with the trifecta of You Can Leave Your Hat On, Unchain My Heart and With A Little Help From My Friends. You wouldn’t believe that Joe Cocker is 66 years old after witnessing his five-jump finish!

There was the obligatory walk off and back on again, but not to be outdone by the support band’s encore, Joe Cocker did it twice! The encore saw the band bash through She Came In Through The Bathroom Window and Cry Me A River, before walking off and on again for the encore encore of Thankful.