POP MUSIC REVIEWS : Thoro-ly Predictable Hot Time

After nine albums and more than 20 years of live performances, surprisingly little has changed for singer-guitarist George Thorogood and his musical approach. For better and worse, this point was hammered home over the course of his 90-minute concert Wednesday night at a near-capacity Galaxy Concert Theatre.

There’s little mystery to what Thorogood and his Delaware Destroyers are about. Purveyors of prime-time party music, the quartet revels in its unsophisticated, everyman image, working hard to give fans what they pay for--good-time rock ‘n’ boogie delivered with a take-it-or-leave-it attitude.

On one level that works, and it’s refreshing to experience music-making for its own sake, played for the simple fun of it. Without a new product to plug on this tour, the band--Thorogood was joined by drummer Jeff Simon, bassist Billy Blough and keyboardist-saxman Hank Carter--cranked out the songs they wanted to play, plus those the crowd begged to hear.

With a look of joy, Thorogood put his own stamp on several covers penned by some of his early influences: Chuck Berry, Willie Dixon and Hank Williams, among others. In fact, his rollicking, supercharged finale of “Johnny B. Goode” inspired a mass of dancing humanity.

The expected crowd-pleasing Thorogood hits were predictably delivered, played with little variation from their standard versions. Yet such an undeniable energy and enthusiasm engulfed everything in their path that it was virtually impossible not be swept up in the excitement of the moment.

And why fight it?

A particularly memorable stretch began with one of Thorogood’s numerous call-to-drinking anthems, “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer,” and steamrollered ahead four songs later to his signature, still-addictive “Bad to the Bone.” Thorogood’s vocal grit, buzz-saw guitar solos and cocky swagger all coalesced into a convincingly entertaining package.

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His stage demeanor was equally impressive, managing to be unpretentious as he casually held court before his devoted followers. (One young woman finally succeeded in personally handing him a large plastic bone.) Never one to take himself too seriously, his sense of humor was playful and engaging (“We’d like to come back [here] because we could use the dough.”) and sometimes titillating (“I feel like getting dirty tonight--filthy dirty.”).

No doubt about it, Thorogood embraces the role and brags about being B-B-B-BAD . Upon closer review, though, Thorogood’s political incorrectness and sometimes mean-spirited lyrics are troublesome. Still referring to women as “chicks” is anachronistic and demeaning. And it was unsettling to witness such wild applause and the boisterous singing-along with Thorogood of this closing lyric in T.J. Amall’s “Cocaine Blues”: “I shot that bad bitch down.”

In this regard, Thorogood should join the ‘90s. He needs some sophistication, if not liberation, before achieving thorough b-b-badness.

Ex-TSOL front-man Joe Wood led his latest incarnation, Cisco Poison, through a battlefield of social and personal demons in the band’s opening 35-minutes of bluesy, punkish rock.

Drawing heavily from its excellent 1994 Dr. Dream release, “It’s a Long Way to Heaven . . .,” the power trio played emotionally driven songs that recall the keen social observations of X and the gritty street sensibilities of Social Distortion. Highlights from the band’s brief but gutsy set included a harrowing depiction of child abuse (“Lillian”), the smartly drawn wordplay of “Wherever I Go (I’m Still Here),” and the mentally exhausting “26 Forever,” in which Wood’s howling vocals and angry riffing respond to the stifling of the American dream.