I was gonna use a pix I took of Cheap Trick opening for Aerosmith at MSG Wednesday night but I decided on this one I got off the web because I was so far away, they came out lousy.
My point? Cheap Trick were as uninspired a rock band as I have ever seen but part of the blame must lie in the distance I was front he band.
CT are to the Beatles what Aerosmith are to the Stones, only better. There is a reason why so many people I respect love them and I can hear it in the clear as a bell hard rock they play, where every solo is a deconstruction of a melody, where nothing outstays its welcome, where the songs pile on the pleasure zone one after another.
But they played a lackluster and bored set, the four members seemed completely over it. Nothing they did went over the top, no one song grabbed your attention, the energy level felt feigned. Maybe they weren't in the mood, maybe opening for Aerosmith was getting to them. Maybe their night job is a drag.
I know for sure, we aren't discussing Aerosmith. Cheap Trick are a high energy band phoning it in from New Jersey. Rick Nielsen can shine like a diamond and has clear cutting guitar lines and the band have played together for so many years they mesh with ease. Too much ease. There is no tension here and it isn't helped by the band playing the conclusion of the Beatles Abbey Road (with Brad Whitford, the only person between two bands to do himself any favors). That would be "Golden Slumbers" pop pickers. Who would play "Golden Slumbers" in the middle of their set? For what reason? What will they gain? Absolutely nothing, it sunk the set without a trace and they should dump it. Yeah I saw em perform Pepper, while this ain't that despite them playing it as well as the best trib band around.
Cheap Trick never recovered from this mistake and the last songs, huge hits,"Dream Police" and "Surrender", were not good at all.
A huge disappointment, these are the guys Lennon chose to play with him on Double Fantasy, these cats are the real deal. I plan to see em next time they headline.
Grade: C