It’s that moment when the house lights go down and the audience erupts: a drumbeat punches through the darkness, and the stage lights — almost blindingly bright at first — reveal a killer band ready to unleash a catalog of classic hits like none other. That familiar snarl of a slide guitar rips open the room, and you know you’re about to experience a bad-to-the-bone icon at his very best.

George Thorogood and The Destroyers are throwing a Rock Party for 2017, and you’re invited when they come to Penn’s Peak at 8 p.m. June 11.“The thing is,” Thorogood says, “it all started with a birthday party.”For any kid growing up in the ’60s, the first sightings of live rock ’n’ roll on TV were mind-bendingly seismic.“Ask Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, John Mellencamp or Chrissie Hynde, and they’ll tell you the same thing,” Thorogood says.“The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show and The Rolling Stones on Shindig — we all saw that and said, ‘That’s it. That’s what I want to do.’”Almost immediately, teens across America, including the suburbs of Wilmington, Delaware, started to put together bands.“I didn’t know how to play guitar then, but the band up the street needed a singer,” he remembers. “And because I knew the words to a bunch of songs, I said I’d give it a try. The first show we ever played was a party for my twin sisters’ birthday. I was 15 years old and got paid $20. That was the day I became a professional rock performer.”In 1976, Thorogood’s band was signed to Rounder Records.Thorogood and the band’s self-titled debut was certified Gold.Over the course of 16 studio albums — including six Gold and two Platinum discs on Rounder, EMI and Capitol — the band would amass an unmatched catalog of hits that includes “Who Do You Love,” “I Drink Alone,” “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer,” “Move It On Over,” “Get A Haircut” and the ultimate badass anthem, “Bad to the Bone.”But it was their powerhouse live performances that made them legendary: from unforgettable appearances on SNL and Live Aid, to the opening slot on the Rolling Stones’ historic ’81 tour, to their own record-breaking 50/50 tour, or any of their current 100+ shows per year, Thorogood and his longtime band — Jeff Simon (drums, percussion), Bill Blough (bass guitar), Jim Suhler (rhythm guitar) and Buddy Leach (saxophone) — remain among the most relentless and relevant classic rock acts on tour today.During the Rock Party for 2017 tour, the band will donate $1 from each ticket sale to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.Coming up• June 2, Mike DelGuidice & Big Shot, 8 p.m.• June 11, George Thorogood and the Destroyers, 8 p.m.• June 16, Lou Gramm – Voice of Foreigner, 8 p.m.• June 22, Happy Together Tour 2017, 8 p.m.• June 23, The Airplane Family & Friends with Live Dead ’69, 8 p.m.• June 24, Fuel with Marcy Playground and Dishwalla plus Another Day Dawns, 7:30 p.m.• June 30, Back to the Eighties Show with Jessie’s Girl, 8 p.m.• July 1, Yonder Mountain String Band, 9 p.m.• July 7, Buckcherry, 8 p.m.• July 14, Phil Vassar, 8 p.m.• July 15, Great White with special guest Faster Pussycat, 8 p.m.• July 29, Josh Turner, 8 p.m.• Aug. 15, Ted Nugent, 8 p.m.• Aug. 18, The Beach Boys, 8 p.m.Tickets are available at all Ticketmaster outlets, the Penn’s Peak Box Office and Roadies Restaurant and Bar. For more information, go to

www.pennspeak.com or call 866-605-7325.