A recent performance of the At Budokan album for iHeartRadio revealed two weaknesses in the melodic hard rock band that stole my heart in the summer of 1979. Daxx Nielsen, who seemed like a genuinely nice kid when I met him a decade ago in a Rock Island, Illinois bar, has nowhere near the juice behind the kit of his predecessor. Bun E. Carlos may have never taken home the “Co-Worker of the Year” plaque, but his nickname as “King of the Thunder Drums” was validated at every performance. Secondly, Robin Zander, now on the wrong side of 60, has lost some of the high end of his vocal range. As a band whose main strength has always been the ability to transcend their material in a live setting, performing at 80% of peak capacity is a somewhat depressing new reality.
But, you never know what a live show will bring. Last year in Austin, the band and audience kept gradually pushing each other until the divine sluice gate of destiny busted opened, and we were all awash in the baptismal glory of rock ‘n’ roll salvation. That is to say, they were amazing.
However, the days of consistent/frenzied greatness are in Cheap Trick’s past. Most good nights, and this was definitely in that category, will peak at well-played nostalgia (every note in the setlist was at least a quarter of a century old). It’s like Joe Montana in a Kansas City Chiefs uniform. You might make the playoffs, but there’s no reason to expect a Super Bowl ring.
This was a night of fandom being rewarded. The band played three songs from their 1977 debut album. Their cover of Terry Reid’s “Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace” was on of the highlights of the evening, as the composition gives every member in the band a chance to shine. “Borderline,” off of 1983’s Next Position Please is a better song than 1979’s “Voices,” although fewer people know it. “I Want You to Want Me” sounded like another quality song in the set, not a career tune. That’s because “Oh, Candy,” one of two suicide tunes in the set, was just as good.
Maxx Nielsen isn’t flashy, but he does what the drummer in Cheap Trick is supposed to do – he serves the song. The unflappable Tom Petersson lays down the bedrock foundation for the rhythm section. Rick Nielsen is no longer a one-man tornado, but still effectively manages to be an entertaining showman while plowing through a field of power chords. Robin Zander was once billed as the “Man of 1,000 Voices.” He’s probably down to about 973, but he enjoys interacting with the crowd much more than he did in the band’s glory days. It was a solid night of old pros playing good music with refreshing energy and enthusiasm. For a band pushing 40 years as a unit, they are still pretty damn good.
It was a generous show – no opening act and 20 songs, including the extended guitar assaults on “Need Your Love” and “Heaven Tonight.” The low points were the endlessly trite “Big Eyes” and a rather lackluster take on “The Flame.” The gushing sentimentalism of that song, a tune they were forced to record by Epic Records and it became their only #1 hit single, is completely out of kilter emotionally with the rest of the band’s catalogue. Robin didn’t even try to hit the high note.
With no product to push, between songs banter was at a minimum. The lighting and production were almost minimalist compared to most current touring bands. At the end of the night, Rick Nielsen, a grandfather in his mid-sixties who is no longer close to being thin, played a furious solo on “Auf Wiedersehen” and then climbed the band’s three-step ladder to pantomime his own death. Good weirdness never goes out of style.
Grade – B+
Setlist:
Hello There
Big Eyes
Oh, Candy
Ain’t That a Shame
Never Had a Lot to Lose
Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace
Need Your Love
She’s Tight
Heaven Tonight
Taxman, Mr. Thief
Borderline
If You Want My Love
I Know What I Want
The Flame
Baby Loves to Rock
I Want You to Want Me
Surrender
Encore
California Man
Dream Police
Auf Wiedersehen