Ok just one more Cheap Trick concert post. Crawdaddy just posted this great review and photo gallery of the show last Friday in Saratoga, CA.
That was over 30 years ago, and with one or two exceptions, Cheap Trick at the Bay Area’s Mountain Winery Amphitheatre last Friday is still the same band they were back then, long before That 70’s Show and numerous TV and movie references made them iconic. They came out hard and loud. Vocalist Robin Zander is still pretty and still has his long hair or at least one of those hats with fake long hair glued to it. Ok, it’s his hair and it smells really nice, even after a show. Remarkably, his great rock ‘n’ roll voice has not changed a bit in 30 years. Likewise, 12-string bassist Tom Petersson was a 21st century version of his cool ‘70s self. Playing a 12-string bass (four sets of three strings) guarantees that the bottom will be big and the riffs basic. That remains the band’s bottom end, and it borrows from both punk and prog. Best of all, guitarist Rick Nielsen, the man who offended me when I was a kid by taking the piss out of all the pretentious rock gods I worshiped at the time was still his electric-goofball self.
Notably absent visually but not musically was Cheap Trick’s original drummer—chain smoking salesman Bun E. Carlos, who was replaced on the tour by Nielsen’s son Daxx Nielsen. I would cry nepotism here, but Daxx played exactly like Bun E., albeit without the butt hanging from his lips and the giant drumsticks he used to mock the notion of drum solos. I admit that I missed Bun E. He always looked like he got off work just before the gig and had no time to change. And man, I could relate to that. Especially since ‘70s rock bands had a little thing called wardrobe!
The band’s 90-minute set felt legit and not milked, except, perhaps, when they played the well-known theme for That 70’s Show. Maybe the song is magnetic for the many 20 and 30-something’s who were in attendance.
The band did a great job of varying well-known songs with ones forgotten by those who were there back in the day—like the punky “Top of the World” and the dark “Ballad of TV Violence.” In between, they played classic hits including “Surrender” and “I Want You to Want Me.” “Surrender” is a classic ‘70s teen anthem (it even mentions Kiss!), and they did not phone in that one or any other songs played that night.
Read the Rest and View Photos via Live Show Review: Cheap Trick at the Mountain Winery, Saratoga | Crawdaddy!.
Follow Me!