{"id":2343423,"date":"2026-03-24T11:34:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T11:34:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2343423"},"modified":"2026-03-24T11:34:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T11:34:11","slug":"best-bets-george-thorogood-at-symphony-hall-duluth-news-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/best-bets-george-thorogood-at-symphony-hall-duluth-news-tribune\/","title":{"rendered":"Best Bets: George Thorogood at Symphony Hall – Duluth News Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"

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DULUTH \u2014 This is a week for legendary entertainers, on stage and onscreen.<\/p>\n

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George Thorogood and the Destroyers<\/h2>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Are you surprised to learn that George Thorogood has never had a Top 40 hit single? It’s true, but he and his band, the Destroyers, are better remembered as avatars of ’80s roadhouse rock than a lot of artists who were more commercially successful at the time. Defined by the 1982 MTV staple “Bad to the Bone,” Thorogood has also put his stamp on covers like “Who Do You Love?” and shown up on soundtracks like “Bull Durham” (“Born to Be Bad”).<\/p>\n

Thorogood is now preparing to release a career-spanning set, “The Baddest Show on Earth: Greatest Hits Live.” Due June 12 from Craft Recordings, the 11-track album demonstrates “George\u2019s connection to unvarnished, primal rock and roll,” as record label executive Scott Billington put it in a news release.<\/p>\n

The band will demonstrate that connection onstage at Symphony Hall on Wednesday, March 25. As a bluesy bonus, the Robert Cray Band will open the show <\/p>\n

(decc.org).<\/a><\/p>\n

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Comedian Brad Williams will perform at Symphony Hall on Thursday, March 26.<\/figcaption>

Contributed \/ DECC<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n

Comedian Brad Williams has several distinctions. Aside from the usual touring standup artist’s roster of successful specials and late-night appearances, Williams was the first comic to headline a Cirque du Soleil show and now bills himself as America’s funniest entertainer \u2014 “pound for pound.”<\/p>\n

The comic riffs on the ironies of dwarfism along with addressing topics like relationships and race, and he isn’t afraid of raising his eyebrows at regional idiosyncracies. What will a guy who makes fun of Michiganders for using their hands as state maps have to say about residents of America’s most inland seaport? You can find out at Symphony Hall on Thursday, March 26 <\/p>\n

(decc.org).<\/a><\/p>\n

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Carl Gawboy and Wendy Savage<\/h2>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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Carl Gawboy, far right, holds his Northeastern Minnesota Book Award at the St. Louis County Depot in 2025. The artist will present a talk at the Duluth Art Institute’s downtown gallery space on Thursday, March 26.<\/figcaption>

Jay Gabler \/ Duluth Media Group file photo<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n

The theme of this year’s exhibitions at the Duluth Art Institute is “We Hold These Truths,” an invitation for artists and audiences to consider the many dimensions of American identity in the country’s semiquincentennial year.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, March 26, artists Carl Gawboy and Wendy Savage will speak at DAI’s downtown gallery space during a reception spotlighting their work on display there. Gawboy’s “Fur Trade Nation” features watercolors examining North America’s fur trade from an Ojibwe perspective. Savage’s “Ojibwe Adornment in Ribbons, Cloth, Beads, and Fur” draws on the artist’s work in textiles and fashion \u2014 as well as that of eight more Anishinaabe artists <\/p>\n

(duluthart.org).<\/a><\/p>\n

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Cornbread Harris will perform at Sacred Heart Music Center on Friday, March 27. Biographer Andrea Swensson will also be present to talk about her 2024 book.<\/figcaption>

Contributed \/ University of Minnesota Press<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n

Friday, March 27, won’t be the first time Minneapolis blues artist Cornbread Harris has performed in Duluth; he played Fitger’s Brewhouse a handful of times in the early 2000s, and has performed at the Bayfront Blues Festival twice (in 2005 and 2010). Still, it’s been more than 15 years since the Minnesota music legend has graced a Duluth stage \u2014 and he’s never played Sacred Heart Music Center \u2014 so this is kind of a big deal.<\/p>\n

Harris will be accompanied by his biographer, Andrea Swensson, whose “Deeper Blues” (2024) is important not only as a long-overdue history of Harris’ remarkable life. The writing process helped reunite Harris with his long-estranged son Jimmy Jam Harris, one of the most successful producers in pop music history. Onstage before Friday’s concert, Swensson will talk with this reporter about her book <\/p>\n

(sacredheartmusic.org).<\/a><\/p>\n

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Cultural heritage events at UMD<\/h2>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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Emerson Spencer, left, and Alivia Lor perform \u201cA Fisherman\u2019s Tale,\u201d featuring Hmong dragon dancing, during a Feb. 4 dance rehearsal at the Marshall Performing Arts Center. On Saturday, March 28, UMD will host a Hmong Heritage Night.<\/figcaption>

Clint Austin \/ Duluth Media Group file photo<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n

On Saturday, March 28, the University of Minnesota Duluth will host two separate celebrations of cultural heritage.<\/p>\n

At the Ward Wells Field House, UMD’s Indigenous Student Organization will present the fourth annual Ziigwan Powwow. There will be two Grand Entry occasions at the celebration of Indigenous culture, which also includes a community feast <\/p>\n

(calendar.d.umn.edu).<\/a><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, at Kirby Ballroom, Hmong Living in Unity and Balance hosts a Hmong Heritage Night with performances and storytelling. The theme of the evening is “Peb tseem nyob,” or “We\u2019re still standing” <\/p>\n

(calendar.d.umn.edu).<\/a><\/p>\n

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Theatrical release poster for “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” which plays at the Zeitgeist Zinema on Sunday, March 29.<\/figcaption>

Contributed \/ Paramount Pictures<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n

No photograph or illustration can convey the sparkling allure of Audrey Hepburn \u2014 you simply have to see her onscreen. Although Hepburn’s signature film, “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” (1961) is problematic \u2014 with white actor Mickey Rooney cast as a Japanese character portrayed in racist stereotype \u2014 it also weaves an undeniable spell. Removed from the movie, “Moon River” (Oscar winner for Best Original Song) sounds schmaltzy. But, in the film? It will stop your heart.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, March 29, Blake Edwards’ movie screens at the Zeitgeist Zinema <\/p>\n

(zeitgeistarts.com).<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\n Arts and entertainment reporter Jay Gabler joined the Duluth News Tribune in 2022. His previous experience includes eight years as a digital producer at The Current (Minnesota Public Radio), four years as theater critic at Minneapolis alt-weekly City Pages, and six years as arts editor at the Twin Cities Daily Planet. He’s a co-founder of pop culture and creative writing blog The Tangential; he’s also a member of the National Book Critics Circle and the Minnesota Film Critics Association. You can reach him at jgabler@duluthnews.com or 218-409-7529.\n <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n