Page 55 - Black Velvet Issue 94

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CHEAP TRICK / STONE BROKEN - BRISTOL O2 ACADEMY, 29.06.17
Rockford, Illinois' finest pop-rockers Cheap Trick make a long-awaited originality. New song 'Doesn't Matter' is the most outstanding of the night
return to our shores after a six-year absence to support the recent release and promises much more to look forward to from these young rockers.
of their 18th studio album, 'We're All Alright!' Cheap Trick have been touring almost constantly since their debut
Support on the three UK dates comes from highly regarded Walsall album was released 40 years ago and it certainly shows. After the intro
four-piece Stone Broken, who appear to be genuinely excited to be per- tape finishes a polite female voice announces 'Ladies and gentlemen,
forming for the largely uninitiated crowd and they seem to win lots of new boys and girls, please welcome to the stage the best fucking rock band
fans by the end of their 30-minute set. Openers 'Stay All Night' and 'Better' you've ever seen...Cheap Trick.' Right from the opening bars of 'Hello
do a great job of grabbing the audience's attention and the short set never There', for the next 100 minutes or so there is no let-up. The band may
lets up afterwards. Their material is similar in places to bands like Nickel- be no spring chickens anymore but they still know how to put on a damn
back and Shinedown but Stone Broken have a unique slant which com- fine show. They are so sleek and professional and just make it look so
bines the best elements of those bands with a touch of their own easy as they pump out slice after slice of classic power pop.
'Long Time Comin'' from the
new album is up second, which
shows that the band have just as
much faith in their new material as
the old classics, of which there are
plenty on offer tonight. Not many
bands can play sets which are about
80% different night after night but
Cheap Trick do this regularly, so
tonight we get rarely-played gems
such as 'Oh Candy', 'Lookout' and
'Stiff Competition', plus their version
of John Lennon's classic 'Cold
Turkey'. It's a special treat for the
diehard fans who go to several
shows on a tour and show that CT
really appreciate their support which
has helped them to keep going for
so long.
Singer Robin Zander has one of
the finest voices in rock and is on top
form tonight; guitarist Rick Nielsen is
the main visual focal point of the
band as he struts around the stage
and flicks endless guitar picks into
the crowd; his son Daxx is now a
fully-fledged member of the band on
drums and seems more confident
than ever, showing off his effortless
skills and providing a powerful foun-
dation for the quartet's sound which
is completed by the hugely impres-
sive 12-string bass of Tom Peters-
son, who gets to show off his talents
with a solo before he gets his turn on
lead vocals for an outstanding rendi-
tion of the Velvet Underground's 'I'm
Waiting For The Man', a song the
band used to play back in their club
days.
Cheap Trick's three most popu-
lar songs are saved until almost the
very end. 'Dream Police' ends the
main set and sees Rick throwing
huge handfuls of guitar picks over
the audience, resulting in a huge
scramble for them.
For the very well-deserved en-
core they pay homage to their hero
Roy Wood with The Move classic
'Blackberry Way' from 'We're All Al-
right!', before their ultimate classics
'I Want You To Want Me' and 'Sur-
render' bring the night to a close, giv-
ing the fans chance to sing along
loudly and leave the venue with
huge smiles on their faces after see-
ing one of rock's most legendary
bands put on yet another legendary
show. Hopefully they'll still be alright
for a few more years yet!
YYYYY
Ian Trigg
Robin Zander (Cheap Trick)
Photo By Shari Black Velvet

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