Getting Tricked Out
How can you not love Cheap Trick? The power-pop pioneers from Rockford, Ill. are making a marvelous racket on stage with their well-perfected blend of savage, metal-edged riffs and pretty pop melodies. And the musicians are quite a sight to behold -- especially guitarist Rick Nielsen, who's wearing all black (long pants, long-sleeved shirt, schoolboy ballcap) while he works his way through an incredible collection of guitars, from a double-neck to a Flying-V. The guitars, by the way, are being run through a towering stack of checkerboard amps that happened to light up right in the middle of "Dream Police."
Cheap Trick's Rick Nielsen
Singer Robin Zander, who happens to be wearing a Cheap Trick T-shirt, is in good voice (how is he still hitting the high notes of "The Flame"?). Drummer Bun E. Carlos and bassist Tom Petersson, whose name always looks like a typo to me, are absolutely killing it. The driving bottom end during "I Want You to Want Me" might be the best rhythm I
hear all day. "Surrender," indeed.
-- J. Freedom du Lac
By Maura McCarthy |
August 4, 2007; 1:55 PM ET
| Category:
Saturday's Festival
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Posted by: Laura Faeth | August 5, 2007 11:10 PM
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Yes, Cheap Trick still surprises many concert-goers with their energy and incredible sound. Sometimes, I swear their live performances are more intense today compared to when I first saw them in 1978. Like a fine wine, they're better with age.