03 August 2024 (gig)
06 August 2024
Power-pop icons, Cheap Trick, are touring a lot this summer. Unfortunately, many of the dates are as the opening act on this year's edition of the Stadium Tour (headlined by Journey and Def Leppard), so seeing a full Cheap Trick set is going to be pretty rare this year.
Fortunately, they are doing some headlining shows and the group played a solo concert at the MGM Music Hall at Fenway in Boston, Massachusetts on August 3, 2024.
Still sporting three original members: Robin Zander (lead vocals/guitar); Rick Nielsen (lead guitar/backing vocals); and Tom Petersen (bass/backing and occasional lead vocals), Cheap Trick has been active since 1973 (though Petersen left the band for nearly seven years in the '80s).
On what was a dour weekend in the city, as it was announced the night before that Aerosmith ("The Bad Boys From Boston") had officially retired as a live touring act, Cheap Trick lifted the spirits of those who are mourning that huge loss of one of the greatest rock bands ever.
Opening with their standard "Hello There" and then "Big Eyes" (a pair from 1977's "In Color" disc) they revisited their 1982 hit, "She's Tight".
Cheap Trick are hugely influenced by the British music of the '60s and '70s (Zander was wearing a Beatles t-shirt, while Petersen was donning one with The Kinks logo) and pulled off a cool version of The Move's "California Man".
The band Metallica, who was currently in the midst of a two-night stand in Massachusetts, had this night off and after Cheap Trick performed "Southern Girls", Nielsen called out to Kirk Hammert (lead guitarist for Metallica), who was in the audience.
The set really came alive during their cover of Fats Domino's "Ain't That a Shame" (where drummer Daxx Nielsen, Rick's son, really shined) and a killer rendering of "He's a Whore".
In a surprise move, Gary Cherone (vocalist for Extreme and former Van Halen front man) took the mic over from Zander and pulled off a fun version of 1980's "Baby Loves to Rock".
Petersen is one of rock's most underrated bass players, and he performed a fantastic bass solo that meshed into "I Know What I Want".
Zander later donned an acoustic guitar and the band churned out their 1988 number-one hit, "The Flame", before finishing off in grand style with "I Want You to Want Me" and a manic version of "Dream Police".
They returned for a three-song encore which featured "Clock Strikes Ten", "Surrender" and "Goodnight Now", a reworking of "Hello There", closed things out nicely.
