Bobby Blotzer of the band Ratt wrote in his recent memoir his theory on why people continue to go see bands that were in their prime in the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. He wrote, “Bands from those time periods are still out there touring [because] people want to be taken back to that.” He may not be too far off the mark. As he said, “You can smell and taste where you were when you first heard that song.” You know, the one that was playing when you had your first kiss, your first drive in a car by yourself, your first concert. It is all there in the music.
Cheap Trick were huge in the 70’s. Robin Zander was a sex symbol all the girls swooned over and Rick Nielsen was the guitar player all the boys wanted to be (if they weren’t trying to be Joe Perry). Their 1978 live album At Budokan was an enormous hit, spirited versions of “Surrender” and “I Want You To Want Me” blasting out of every car speaker. They were just impossible to ignore.
It is now 2011 and lo and behold Cheap Trick are still around, still selling out venues, while playing on massive tours with the likes of Def Leppard and Poison. In fact, the gentleman sitting next to me could barely contain himself when they ripped into “Surrender”. The Blotz wasn’t kidding when he said the music would take you back to a time and a place when youth was taken for granted.
First things first: Zander, Nielsen, and bassist Tom Petersson all looked healthy, happy and energetic. Second: They sounded right on the mark. And third: yes, Nielsen brought out the 5-necked guitar during the encore and slayed us with his happy-go-lucky chops as he hurled hundreds of picks into the crowd. Ah, some things never change.
Robin Zander walked out into the spotlight in a brightly sequined leather jacket and hat. With just enough scruff on his chin, he appeared youthful and in excellent voice. Singing “Way Of The World” to start things off, it was an early indicator that the next hour and a half would be a rocking one. Rick Nielsen in his blue suit, hat and Chaplinesque shenanigans, ate up not only the spotlight and adulation but anything not tied down. He was a whirlwind of energy and legendary notes. Tom Petersson was all smiles, with a professor’s glasses and a sparkly kick ass twelve-string bass. Sitting in on drums was Nielsen’s son Daxx, showing off that he had indeed inherited some of his Dad’s hyperkinetic genes.
“You don’t mind if we do a few rock tunes?” asked a teasing Nielsen before kicking into “Looking Out For #1”. His crunchy, almost raunchy guitar intro to “California Man” and his spiraling bullet-spitting solo on “Need Your Love” left no doubt that although the man is running around the stage like a spazzing mosquito, he can still play guitar with the best of them.
Petersson’s solo turn falling out of “I Want You To Want Me” was incredible. Spotlighted in an ominous otherworldly red light, he took us on a slow psychedelic cruncher that dropped down nicely into “I Know What I Want” with him on vocals. “I knew him in high school,” proclaimed Nielsen proudly. “And he was cool then too”.
A fantastic “Surrender” had everyone on their feet to end the regular set. With chants of “Cheap Trick” echoing loudly, the band re-emerged with Nielsen asking, “Are you sure you want to hear some more?” They then proceeded to give us enthusiastic versions of “Dream Police” and “Goodnight”.
At one point right before the encore, someone in the audience handed Nielsen an old Cheap Trick tour program to sign. It had survived Hurricane Katrina, a fact that Nielsen related to everyone in attendance. This leads us back to the seventies: A time when music was bursting at the seams with guitar licks, fun lyrics, enormous stage shows and a sense of total youthful freedom. Mr Blotzer did indeed get it right. Cheap Trick on this night in 2011 brought us all the way back to the fun of rock & roll.
Setlist: Way Of The World, Hot Love, Borderline, I Can’t Take It, California Man, Looking Out For #1, On Top Of The World, Don’t Be Cruel, House Is Rockin’, I Want You To Want Me, I Know What I Want, The Flame, Need Your Love, Sick Man Of Europe, Closer, Surrender. ENCORE: Dream Police, Goodnight.
