reCAP :: Cheap Trick :: 2015.09.26
“Music has value.”
That’s the statement that was stamped across Robin Zander’s shirt, the black lettering popping out against his otherwise white outfit, as he entered a dimly lit stage with Rick Nielsen in tow. And nowhere was the truth of that message more apparent than on 9/26/15 as Cheap Trick took the stage of The Capitol Theatre.
Cheap Trick immediately launched into “Hello There,” the perfect set opener, which saturated The Cap with a raucous, feverish energy. While it often takes a few songs for a band to hit their stride, this was not true for Cheap Trick. They were tight, energetic, and ready to rock from the very start.
“If You Want My Love” saw the first sing-a-long of the night, which came just half-way through the set. Zander turned the mic on the crowd, who were more than thrilled to shout the chorus back at him.
“Baby Loves to Rock” came just a few songs later, and again, Zander turned his mic to an eager crowd to help him out. Zander peered out at the audience from beneath his hat, taking in the legions of loyal fans before him, and smiled.
This was perhaps the most striking thing about Cheap Trick- the sincere joy they clearly felt throughout the entire show. Now in their 41st year as a band, Cheap Trick has already proven themselves. They’ve already been crowned “the American Beatles” and one of the greatest rock bands of all time. They could easily coast on the reputation they’ve worked so hard to earn. But they don’t. They still work hard to put on a good show, and they were clearly grateful and thrilled to do so.
Cheap Trick’s stage presence was just as good as their music. Rick Nielsen strode confidently around the stage, perpetually grabbing from his large supply of guitar picks and throwing them out to the crowd. And of course, when he wasn’t throwing out picks, he was being handed a new guitar after every few songs, each one flashier than the last.
Cheap Trick wrapped up their set with back to back hits, “I Want You to Want Me” and “Dream Police,” which amped the energy up even further. Both songs were originally released in the mid-to-late seventies, so the fact that they still remain such fan favorites is a testament to the timelessness of Cheap Trick’s music.
The formality of applauding relentlessly for an encore seemed silly when it was obvious that everyone wanted more, so the band quickly came back out on stage after finishing “Dream Police.” The star of the 3 song encore was, of course, “Surrender.” The band brought out opener Jesse Malin to help out, who played a great set to get the evening started, and Nielsen broke out his famed 5 neck guitar. The roar of the crowd was tremendous, and the song culminated in infamous chants of “We’re all alright.” But obviously, Cheap Trick was more than just “alright.” They were spectacular.