4TH TRICK FULL HOUSE

Rip It Up, Issue 22, 1 May 1979, Page 8

4TH TRICK FULL HOUSE

Dominic Free

Cheap Trick Cheap Trick Live At The Budokan Epic

Mercifully the spate of double live albums, which had followed the success of Peter Frampton’s effort, seems to be coming to an end. Appropriately Cheap Trick, perhaps the finest band to come out of the USA in recent years, leads the return to the pithy single live set. On this one Cheap Trick continue to impress. At The Budokan provides a neat statement of the band’s live excitement. Casting a glance back over Cheap Trick's two year career, two features really become obvious. First there is the band's commitment to simple rock’n’roll fun and second there is their prolific rate of output. Cheap Trick’s brand of pop metal is both lively and uncomplicated, owing an apparent debt to the British sixties, especially The Beatles. Lead by zany guitarist Rick Nielson their idea is simply to have a good time. Arguably this is the reason that they have not yet turned out any truly great songs. Not everyone can write a ”My Generation" or

"Satisfaction” and maybe Rick Nielson is not even interested in trying. As for the second feature, turning out three solid albums in under 14 months is a prodigious output by anyone's standards. Cheap Trick also have the reputation of being one of the hardest working touring bands currently operating out of the States. Putting these two features together the obvious question is can they keep it up? Well, if this display is anything to go on, the band's live performance certainly hasn't slipped any. The set contains most of the highlights from Cheap Trick’s three studio efforts. On side one the band races with little ceremony (as any repartee between songs would be lost on the Japanese audience) through lively renditions of "Hello There", "Come On” and "Look Out”. Closing the side, the version of "Need Your Love" does drag a little but then the band has been pushing the pace all the way and are bound to be feeling it. Side two fires away with a spirited cover of Fats Domino’s "Ain’t That A Shame" and then Me”, "Surrender", "Goodnight Now" (a

reprise of "Hello There” with the obvious alteration) and "Clock Strikes Ten”. A' good stuff and the only regret is that there isn t more of it.

Though his painfully slow enunciations of me song titles for the benefit of the audience become grating after a couple of listens Robin Zander’s singing voice has a real edge of excitement throughout the set. Rhythm men Bun E. Carlos and Tom Petersson get down to the work right from the start and don’t let up. With the emphasis as it is, on simple fun rock’n’roll Rick Nielson keeps his soloing pretty well under wraps for most of the night but what he does let fly is choice stuff. Pity we can’t see the onstage antics that go with it. Here it is a fourth offering from Cheap Trick in under 18 months. Still the band has yet to disappoint. My angle on Cheap Trick is simply this, they are a band looking fit to burn themselves up by giving too much too soon so get into them while the going is good.