Cheap Trick ‘Live At The Whiskey 1977’ Captures Rockford Rockers At Their Best Before ‘Budokan’ (ALBUM REVIEW)

“And so the story goes…”  That’s a line from “He’s A Whore,” one of the many quirky classics on Cheap Trick’s self-titled 1977 debut. They’ve played it on and off since their earliest Midwest club shows and it was even on the rehearsal list for the 1978 Japanese shows that became at Budokan. However, if you’re one of the many who have been waiting since 1996 for these shows to be released in their entirety and full glory, I bet you already know that.

Brian Kramp’s This Band Has No Past from Jawbone Press places these shows perfectly in context as Cheap Trick played a pair of shows at the Whisky a Go Go on June 3^rd and 4^th of 1977. The band was introduced by legendary LA DJ Rodney Bingenheimer and played four sets that were all captured by Wally Heider Studios mobile unit. Like Miles at the Plugged Nickel, the Dead at the Fillmore West, and the Allmans at the Fillmore East, this was a concert stand for the ages. You can hear on Real Gone’s amazing release the rapturous crowd, full of hardcore fans, sun-kissed beauties, and impressed onlookers like Eddie Van Halen over four discs spanning close to four hours.

It’s full throttle all the way. Drummer Bun E. Carlos points out in the liner notes, identical to the 2020 Record Store Day release Out To Get You, that there aren’t a lot of quality recordings of the band during this period. Rick Neilsen’s stage patter has the earlier, maniacal tone, Robin Zander’s vocals are sublime, Tom Peterrson’s bass sounds mammoth and Mr. Bun E. Carlos proves why he is truly irreplaceable.  “Speak Now (Or Forever Hold Your Peace),” “Oh Candy,” “Hot Love,” “ELO Kiddies” are all there and convinced the uninitiated why “there are many here among us” who feel that Cheap Trick’s debut is their strongest album.

Speaking of that lyrical shout out to “All Along The Watchtower,” which appears in “Auf Wiedersehen,” many songs that would appear on In Color are also featured. If you weren’t a fan of the slicker production on the band’s second album, you can hear the material in its rawest state played live. “Auf Wiedersehen,” whose Budokan incarnation didn’t see the light of day until the 1993, serves as the perfect representation of the band’s darker material this period in their history typifies. 

Hearing Robin Zander shout ”SUICIDE!” like Eddie from Stranger Things is only shocking for those who only know the band from poppier compositions. Tim Smith from Sony deserves massive kudos for finally getting this released. Since 1996’s Sex, America, Cheap Trick boxed set, fans have been clamoring for this. Rob Lawson’s Still Competition: The Listener’s Guide to Cheap Trick book tells the story of these recordings for the uninitiated. To quote the band’s paean to the faithful, Fan Club, these four discs are truly the sound of “four kings and an army strong.”