Cheapest Trick

[nofi]

i saw them twice on tv in the last few days. the download festival 2011 and the 35 year budakan show somewhere in the usa. imo rick nielson ruined both shows, for me anyway. his guitar nerd act is getting in the way of playing. whenever he took a solo the whole thing fell apart. many clammed notes, forgotten phrases, awful timing and even in the wrong key one time. zanders guitar saved the day many times. embarrasing, really. but no one can throw a pick like rick.

[nofi]

i like cheap trick. did i puncture a sacred cow here. i know lots of you like them but no comments. feet of clay?

[gweimer]

i like cheap trick. did i puncture a sacred cow here. i know lots of you like them but no comments. feet of clay?

It's Saturday.  Everyone is out doing stuff.  That's really sad to hear.  I saw Cheap Trick dozens of times at Haymakers before they got signed.  They were brutal over a three hour show, but I always knew that they would be perfect in a one hour set in front of a bigger crowd.  Nielsen always impressed me then.  He never played a solo that I recall.  And I do mean never.  What he did was play every chord inversion in the book for the breaks.  Their sound never lacked, either.  I don't suppose the shtick holds up any better than bands like Iron Maiden.  Metal may be the music of our generation, but it's hard to be angry and intense with bad knees and eyes.   

[OldManC]

I've seen CT at least 10 times between 1980 and 2005 (last time I saw them). There were times when Rick was sloppy and times when he wasn't, but the band as a whole has always been pretty impressive to me as a live act. That being said, they're a rock band and it seems to me they approach it that way (as opposed to the precise playing of a prog band or one like Zappa or whatever where it's almost orchestral. I've heard negative opinions regarding Nielsen before, so you're definitely not the only one.

[Highlander]

... but no comments. feet of clay?

I'm in shock... concern...?

Seen them just the once, 1980 iirc... superb show with one sad and defining moment, where they dragged a very,very drunk Alex Harvey up to the mic, and put one of Nielsen's strats round his neck, and it virtually touched the ground, so he spent minutes fumbling with it and it was so embarrassing... (glad I saw him once when SAHB were on form) Brian May wandered out too... Petersen was absent at the time and I can't remember the bassist's name...

[gweimer]

I'm in shock... concern...?

Seen them just the once, 1980 iirc... superb show with one sad and defining moment, where they dragged a very,very drunk Alex Harvey up to the mic, and put one of Nielsen's strats round his neck, and it virtually touched the ground, so he spent minutes fumbling with it and it was so embarrassing... (glad I saw him once when SAHB were on form) Brian May wandered out too... Petersen was absent at the time and I can't remember the bassist's name...

It could have been Pete Comita (big hair), but more likely Jon Brandt (not big hair).

[Highlander]

[westen44]

I planned to see them once in New Orleans.  But something came up at the last minute; I was unable to go, even though I had already bought my ticket.  Naturally, it was a disappointment, although it bothered me a little more than I might have expected. 

[gweimer]

That's Pete Comita.

[OldManC]

That's Pete. First time I saw CT was on that tour (All Shook Up), which was right after Petersson left to find magic with Dagmar.

[OldManC]

Ha ha, you posted that while I was typing!

[gweimer]

LOL!  As a sidenote, Comita co-authored my favorite Off Broadway tune when he was in d'Thumbs.  The rumor around town was that Comita didn't want to share rights, but when he wanted to join Cheap Trick, Ken Adamany told him that he needed to release the song if he wanted the gig.  Off Broadway put it on their second album.

[OldManC]

Great song! I can hear why he fit in (even if only for a while) with CT.

[uwe]

i saw them twice on tv in the last few days. the download festival 2011 and the 35 year budakan show somewhere in the usa. imo rick nielson ruined both shows, for me anyway. his guitar nerd act is getting in the way of playing. whenever he took a solo the whole thing fell apart. many clammed notes, forgotten phrases, awful timing and even in the wrong key one time. zanders guitar saved the day many times. embarrasing, really. but no one can throw a pick like rick.

Nofi, this will be disconcerting for you, but I agree. I've seen Cheap Trick three times in Europe, maybe they don't like playing there, but they were messy and noisy everytime - and not in a good way (i.e. "Faces in 1973"-charm). The chief culprits being that god-awful 12-string bass sound which is everywhere (but nowhere in focus) and - exactly as you put it - "the guitar nerd act getting in the way of playing". For a band of their experience and longevity they are allowed to sound bored and going through the motions with their overplayed hits, but not being able to reproduce them faithfully is unforgivable. I saw them on an open air together with Deep Purple, Status Quo and Thunder. The Brit bands all had excellent sound (Thunder played before Cheap Trick), the Tricksters were just a sonic melée. And when Rick N mentioned how chuffed he was seeing Status Quo live the first time and imitated their style of rhythm guitar chugging (not in a nasty way, he genuinely seemed to like them), you couldn't help but wince  how he sounded compared to them.

Besides and this is where Uwe's anally-strict Yuropean sense of harmony makes once again one of its ugly entrances: He has issues playing major scales against harmonies that require it. Which is funny as it is generally an Amercian art to do it well. But Herr Nielsen's habit of minoring over major harmonies would have gotten him kicked out of, say, Molly Hatchet in no time. 

[dadagoboi]

But Herr Nielsen's habit of minoring over major harmonies would have gotten him kicked out of, say, Molly Hatchet in no time. 

I can think of no greater compliment.