Broadway Bob’s Theater Reviews

Opening with a very good “Clock Strikes Ten”, with the bands three original members (Robin Zander , Rick Nielsen and Tom Peterson) along with Daxx Nielsen on drums and Robin Taylor Zander on bass. Robin Zander is lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Rick Nielsen on lead guitar with backing vocals; Peterson is on bass.

With young Nielsen on drums and Zander on bass, the band is able to chug out the songs as if it was still the 1980’s again. While Rick Nielsen has trouble walking, his guitar playing is still excellent. It was interesting to watch all four front members strumming away to each and every song while Daxx Nielsen (son of Rick Nielsen) was pounding away at the drums.

The evenings second song, “Radio Lover” was a more of a heavy metal song. The band drove this song forward with hard riffs and an equally metal drum flow. “Radio Lover” would set the tone for what was about to come in this evenings performance.

To me, indoors always works best for a concert... the sound is better, it is more intimate as opposed to an outdoor concert. Like the two John Fogerty concerts I attended last year; one at Radio City and the second at PNC in Homdel, the music inside was flush, the energy exuded by Fogerty was electric’ the sound was crisp. Outside, like the Squeeze concert I saw inside Radio City and then the PNC, too, fluttered.

“Cheap Trick” by many music experts put this band at the top of US bands. I am not sure that I would put them tops, however, the band can still play. To me the “Alman Brothers” were tops. “Chicago” and the “Eagles “could be put in that mix as well. Yet, “Cheap Trick” has many loyal followers which was evident last night. The packed house stood for most of the night which is unusual for the Morristown Performing Arts Center (most people sit throughout usually).

The band grind-ed out songs the entire night... “Big Eyes”, “On Top of the World” (maybe the evenings best song) were the evenings third and forth songs. A Fats Domino cover “Ain’t That A Shame” was the fifth song. This song too was a metal-ish version of the “Fats Domino” original.

After “Need Your Love”, the band never let off the throttle. They went right into “The Ballad of T.V. Violence” instead of slowing things down with a slower, more soulful song like “The Flame”, maybe their best song ever written by the band.

I thought “The Riff That Won’t Quit” was the evenings most revealing. It showed that over the years, even with three original members left, why “Cheap Trick” is so good, even today. This song had all four guitarists at maximum velocity. Completely in sync and pounding out excellent sound, “The Riff” had the audience up singing and dancing.

No doubt that this band is an acquired taste, however, the audience; their fan base is loyal to the bands sound.

In rounding out the evening, the evenings tenth song, “I Know What I want” was a terrific rendition that showed a strong bass fueled by the lead guitar hammering behind the strong bass sound.

“I Want You to Want Me” was met with thunderous applause; “Surrender” was up next (it should have been the encore); a weak “Dream Police” was the second to last song before “Goodnight”.

I question the last set of songs and the order that the came. “Surrender drew the most enthusiasm as did “I Want You to Want Me”. “Dream Police” and “Goodnight” were just ordinary.

Even after all these years, “Cheap Trick” is still worth seeing. The band still has a great fan base and the songs still resonate even till this day!