Going to see Cheap Trick tomorrow

[kizanski]

20 hours ago, stonge said:

Maybe he should just be in a stand onstage as a static display lol.

Edited, slightly.  

[Jakeboy]

I would rather say “I wish he played the 5 neck “  than “He couldn’t lift the 5 neck.”  Shit, last time I saw Aerosmith they didn’t play Train Kept a Rollin”…that was a bigger disappointment for me than RN not playing any one particular guitar.

 

[RobB]

On 8/19/2025 at 1:34 PM, geoff_hartwell said:

For the die-hards, What do you love about the CT shows and what should I be expecting? TIA

So, how was the show?

[geoff_hartwell]

7 hours ago, RobB said:

So, how was the show?

Sorry for delay!
Maaaaannnn, much has already been mentioned… My experience was very Spinal Tap overall haha. I did not love Ricks playing, Robin sounded very good, I had a great time.

It was the Duchess county fair in upstate NY. My wife is originally from the area and wanted to go, so she actually bought the tickets. Since she was driving I traded messages with Jol Dantzig and it was nice to connect with him but did not see him that day- he has been to those fairgrounds for auto events but was not coming to that gig. The weather was cold and rainy but it’s a huge fairgrounds with large buildings of indoor dealers booths and it was fine walking around with an umbrella and wandering around the hucksters tables. I bought some sunglasses lol.

The stage was nearly submerged in the inner ring of a dirt track and the audience was shuffled in the rain to either the covered stands or a couple hundred plastic lawn chairs set out front. Our seats were in the stands.

Started the show with a song about starting the show, Rick and Robin looking less than limber but wearing head to toe sequins was a nice touch. Bass player Tom looked like a shaggy Lou Reed and played all downstrokes with a pick, including his mid set bass “solo”. Drummer was totally solid. The set was built on a solid hour of unrecognizable dinosaur squall and Rick Schtick; yes he changed guitars every song but the 5-neck didn’t make an appearance. Mostly Les Pauls and Explorers, two classic Hamers.
He struggled to play. All power and cowboy chords played poorly and solos that were exclusively first box Pentatonic and not good. Not “cool and sloppy”, but appearing to try to sell that. Robin played solid rhythm guitar for most of the show. The one solo that would call to be melodic was “The Flame” (which RZ started solo acoustic, played in the original key and sang very well) and RN whiffed it pretty bad. My wife looked at me and said deadpan, “Rick Nielsen is not a good guitar player” and I choked on my vape for a second. 😂

They did play 4 hits: The Flame and Dream Police, and as an encore; I Want You to Want Me and Surrender.

As I said, I had a good time, Robin sounded generally very good, I can’t imagine why they didn’t do any of their more popular stuff or covers, but Rick was pretty cringe.

Anybody know who the drummer is on this tour and anything about the Setlists?

[crunchee]

20 minutes ago, geoff_hartwell said:

Anybody know who the drummer is on this tour and anything about the Setlists?

Dunno about the current setlists, but unless things have changed the drummer is Daxx Nielsen, Rick's kid.  I wonder if Rick taught him how to play guitar, too? 

[Tortious]

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/cheap-trick/2025/dutchess-county-fairgrounds-rhinebeck-ny-53590f11.html#

Hello There

Elo Kiddies

Stiff Competition

California Man (The Move cover)

High Roller

Taxman, Mr. Thief

On Top of the World

Need Your Love

I Know What I Want

The Flame

I Want You to Want Me

Dream Police

Surrender

Goodnight

 

More photos at the link. Not sure what guitar this is.

[Willie G. Moseley]

I can vouch for the weight of the fiver being  handled by a septuagenarian. Most of y'all saw this when I posted it in '2019. And is Mr. Magenta Mop from Flipp playing a Hendrick guitar in that video? Rare bird....

[RobB]

1 hour ago, Tortious said:

More photos at the link. Not sure what guitar this is.

That’s a Carlino Guitars korina explorer. I played two of these in his shop last Xmas. They were really nice, but not nicer than my Navigator explorer. 

I asked Eddie about the trademark headstock shape. He stated that Nielsen brokered a handshake deal between Carlino/Gibson to allow the use of that headstock

“Huh”, I shrugged. “Who knew..?”

Thanks for the review, Geoff! At this point, CT now seems to be just a cash grab. RN (obviously) doesn’t give a shit anymore.

Edited September 3, 2025 by RobB

[kizanski]

7 hours ago, RobB said:

At this point, CT now seems to be just a cash grab. RN (obviously) doesn’t give a shit anymore.

I've been saying this for years.  

[Hbom]

When I was 15 I liked a lot of RnR bands. 60 years later I still like most of them, play their records all the time. But I have no desire to watch 80 year olds pretending to be rock stars and can't for the life of me understand why anyone would want to pay money to listen to them sing songs from their childhood.

 

edit: I do understand the theory behind buying tickets to see The Roling Stones. I'm pretty sure most everyone buying a seat is betting on being able to say "I was there when Mick grabbed his chest and fell on his face."

Edited September 3, 2025 by Hbom