by Robert Wilkinson
Our Saturday secular show continues our New Year’s Eve musical weekend featuring the music of guitar wizard Rick Nielsen and Cheap Trick!
Rick Nielsen (December 22, 1948) is the lead guitarist, backing vocalist, and songwriter for the band Cheap Trick, considered to be America’s Beatles. Their music is amazing, beautiful, and rocks as hard as any music ever has! Great writing, great playing, and great stage performances, so what’s not to like? Today's short set contains a few of their greatest!
We’ll begin with one of their biggest hits! Live on The Midnight Special television show, here’s Rick and Cheap Trick performing “Surrender”
From Rockpalast in 1983, another live performance of “Surrender.” From that same show, “She’s Tight” and “Voices.” We’ll close this Rockpalast show with “I Can’t Take It”
Here’s some very early historical performance footage from 1978. “Hello There”
From Oz television in 1979, Cheap Trick cranking out one of their most surrealistic tunes, “Dream Police”
Here’s a great live performance in Daytona in 1988 of “Dream Police.” And from that same 1988 concert, three big ones! “The Flame,” “I Want You To Want Me” and “Ain’t That A Shame”
From 1988, the official music video for “Ghost Town.”
From the Astrodome in 1989, their electrifying “Clock Strikes Ten” followed by a kicking live performance of two oldies, “Ain’t That A Shame” and “Don’t Be Cruel.”
Speaking of Elvis, here Rick and the band are joined by the legend himself, Mister James Burton! “Don’t Be Cruel”
From the legendary 1979 Buddokan concert, “Clock Strikes Ten” which we’ll follow with “Need Your Love” and “ELO Kiddies.”
We’ll close with two rockers that Rick wrote. Millions have heard these tunes, thanks to John Stewart and Stephen Colbert! Here are the theme songs to The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, and yes, they have very strange names!
Last year’s encore was an entire 1 hour 55 minute show in b/w! From 1980 at the Capitol Theater in Passaic, NJ, but it’s disappeared. So instead, for the first encore, live in Pennsylvania in February 2020 giving us an hour and 35 of Cheap Trick Live at the Palace Theater in Greenberg PA
For the second encore, from this time last year in Montclair, NJ, an hour and a half of Cheap Trick in Live at the Welmont Theater – November 2021 This one cranks from the first note!
For our last encore, a show at the Waldorf Astoria! Cheap Trick – The Sgt. Pepper Live Show at the Waldorf Astoria.
© Copyright 2023 Robert Wilkinson
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