Accept No Substitutes: Cheap Trick In Toronto

By Less Lee Moore

Sound Academy, Toronto ON
February 4, 2010

I don’t care what Lester Bangs said: Cheap Trick was, is, and will always be the best rock and roll band of all time.

They more than proved this (again) at Thursday’s Sound Academy show in Toronto.

There was a period of time in the ’90s, during which I lived in New Orleans, when I saw Cheap Trick every year, most often at the House Of Blues. The band never disappointed; they looked and sounded incredible and always pulled a special trick out of their book to thrill the fans (I’ll never forget that “Fan Club” performance that literally had me in tears of joy).

When the new millennium appeared, they seemed to disappear from the New Orleans concert schedule. And when I moved to Canada, they never seemed to play within decent driving distance. Then there was the outdoor concert in 2008 when they opened for Heart and Journey; the traffic on the way to the venue was so bad that I managed to miss their entire set.

This last decade without a Cheap Trick show has just about broken my fangirl heart. So I made sure to arrive at the Sound Academy early so I wouldn’t miss a second.

Opener Ricky Warwick assured the crowd that he wasn’t some sappy singer-songwriter type. He had the look of a younger, blonder Mike Ness (and a bit of the sound, too). His humor and passion for music were engaging; he introduced his cover of “Ace of Spades” by saying it was, in his humble opinion, “the best fucking love song ever written.”

After his set was over and the lights went down, it was just a few more minutes until we heard the opening strains of “Stop This Game” and a sound montage of Cheap Trick pop cultural references, including a Japanese promo, Simpsons quotes, and even Fast Times at Ridgemont High‘s Damone raving about “the Dream Police, ba da da da da!” A female voice (which sounded like Google Translate) then requested the crowd to, “please welcome the best fucking band in the world: Cheap Trick.”

Photo © Cathy Chouinard

They opened with the always-thrilling “Way of the World” and I began to flail around like a fool. I couldn’t stop singing and dancing and smiling, and then started to feel the face trembles (you know… when a member of the band looks in your direction and your cheeks start to quiver). I thought I’d outgrown that, but obviously the Cheap Trick Magic still casts a powerful spell.

The band played several songs from their excellent new album, The Latest; the hits we all know, love, and expect; and a few surprises, like the underrated “Ghost Town,” the sultry “Heaven Tonight,” and the brilliant “Baby Loves To Rock” (auxiliary keyboardist and vocalist Magic Christian played the sound effects for that one). And it was all amazing, every single second.

Robin Zander still has That Voice, the one that is as astonishing today as it was in Ye Olden Tymes. And the charisma is still strong with him, my friends.

Rick Nielsen sounded as great as he always does and looked dapper in his tux, with sparkly trim and bowtie to match. His touring guitar museum is still a huge part of the Cheap Trick live experience; he brought out the early checkerboard version, the five-neck checkerboard, the checkerboard one with his caricature plastered on it, the Uncle Dick, the Gonna Raise Hell guitar, and a gorgeous one with Beatles Sgt. Pepper’s portraits. Someone in the crowd even tossed a beautiful, hand-made Cheap Trick Sgt. Pepper’s quilt onto the stage. Rick wrapped it around himself like a shawl and quipped that he could use it as an adult diaper.

Yes, Rick’s sarcastic humor is still there. Gone is his goatee with the price tag; now we can clearly see the dimples and the hilarious facial expressions. In fact, Rick is more than ever the goofy uncle, full of sarcastic quips and stories, even the ones he is a little fuzzy on. Thankfully, Tom Petersson was there to fill in the details.

Tom continues to wield his oversized 12-string bass like a wizard. The intro to “Auf Wiedersehen” even prompted an audible sigh from my lips. He looks like some sort of stylish mad scientist these days with his messy, almost-totally-grey hair and hip black glasses. Always well-dressed, his purple frock coat and velvet trousers went perfectly with his new bass, which is covered in a multi-colored rhinestone peacock pattern. Yet every time he flashed his million-watt smile, the bass seemed dim by comparison.

I could hardly see any of Bun E. Carlos on the drums and he didn’t play any fancy solos this time around. I’m not sure if his recent illnesses (or back problems) were the reason, but regardless, he still sounds as fantastic as ever.

In fact, the band seemed even more relaxed and comfortable with each other than they usually do. Not subdued, not boring, just totally ON.

Unfortunately, after an hour and a half it was over. As we all searched the ground for any errant guitar picks, I was still smiling. Rick mentioned something about returning to Toronto this summer and I hope that he keeps that promise.

Please don’t make me wait another decade. My poor heart can’t take it.

Photo © Cathy Chouinard

Setlist: Way of the World, Come On Come On, Miracle, I Want You to Want Me, These Days, Baby Loves to Rock, Heaven Tonight, Miss Tomorrow, Don’t Be Cruel, Ghost Town, Sick Man of Europe, The Flame, Surrender

Encore: Dream Police, Auf Wiedersehen, He’s a Whore, Good Night

Concert photos from Chicago, December 19, 2009.

Cheap Trick has tour dates planned through July. Don’t miss them!