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<\/a><\/p>\nThat was over 30 years ago, and with one or two exceptions, Cheap Trick at the Bay Area\u2019s Mountain Winery Amphitheatre last Friday is still the same band they were back then, long before That 70\u2019s 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\u2019s his hair and it smells really nice, even after a show. Remarkably, his great rock \u2018n\u2019 roll voice has not changed a bit in 30 years. Likewise, 12-string bassist Tom Petersson was a 21st century version of his cool \u201870s 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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
Notably absent visually but not musically was Cheap Trick\u2019s original drummer\u2014chain smoking salesman Bun E. Carlos, who was replaced on the tour by Nielsen\u2019s 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 \u201870s rock bands had a little thing called wardrobe!<\/p>\n
The band\u2019s 90-minute set felt legit and not milked, except, perhaps, when they played the well-known theme for That 70\u2019s Show. Maybe the song is magnetic for the many 20 and 30-something\u2019s who were in attendance.<\/p>\n
The band did a great job of varying well-known songs with ones forgotten by those who were there back in the day\u2014like the punky \u201cTop of the World\u201d and the dark \u201cBallad of TV Violence.\u201d In between, they played classic hits including \u201cSurrender\u201d and \u201cI Want You to Want Me.\u201d \u201cSurrender\u201d is a classic \u201870s teen anthem (it even mentions Kiss!), and they did not phone in that one or any other songs played that night.<\/p>\n