CHEAP TRICK / HARMONY RILEY

Ooooooooooold Cheap Trick photo! :o)

Majestic Theater - North Tonawanda, NY

Saturday, August 11, 2001

This is my ticket stub. This is the sign I swiped on my way out after the show. As you can read, the show did not go exactly as planned. It was better than I ever dared to imagine! At the last minute, Cheap Trick decided to have this concert taped for a TV show in Japan! Though there were some disgruntled fans, displaced from their seats by the sudden change of plans, I think the show went amazingly well!

Upon arriving at the Majestic around 6:15 p.m. Brian and I found this sign, and a few more like it, hanging on various walls. Having bought the forty dollar tickets - we rushed to find an usher (after a quick stop to buy some t-shirts, of course!). We were the lucky ones. We were supposed to have fifth row seats (Row E) and we ended up in the sixth row. We were fine with this. So many people came in late - having blown off Harmony Riley - only to find their "reserved" seats were "reserved" no longer. Some audience members continued to complain throughout the show. What could be done though? Nothing was going to change so I did not see the use in complaining and ruining the concert completely! Besides, we were about to become famous in Japan!

Harmony Riley turned out to be a young rock band from Illinois. Their music is pretty cool, heavily Cheap Trick - influenced rock. It is with very good reason that Harmony Riley is influenced by Cheap Trick. Two of the four members are CT guitarist Rick Nielsen's sons Daxx and Miles! Harmony Riley played a fun set of positive sounding straight-up rock and roll - something that is sorely missed in young bands nowdays. At the end we turned to the mixing board to find Mr. Nielsen standing there good-naturedly taunting his sons. He's quite a guy.

After a short break in which I had Brian pick me up a Harmony Riley CD, Cheap Trick ran into the Theater going right up the aisle two seats away from me! I freaked the second I saw Robin Zander - one of my all-time favorite singers! Brian had to calm me down repeatedly during this concert!

Drummer Bun E. Carlos did not play at this concert. He was recovering from recent back surgery and is expected to be back with the band soon. Harmony Riley drummer (and Rick Nielsen's son) Daxx Nielsen filled in beautifully playing drums for Cheap Trick that night! Get well soon, Bun E.! We all missed you!

CT played all the standard old favorites(Dream Police, Surrender, She's Tight, Tonight It's You, etc.) and some surprises as well as some new songs. Having only been a casual CT fan up until this concert (and you can bet that has changed for the better), I didn't know the difference too much regarding what they usually do and do not play. They did play "The Flame," their hit from the eighties, which I hear they are not too fond of since it is the one song they did not write themselves. And Robin sang the hell out of that song! They didn't do it exactly as on the record, but Robin hit ALL the required notes. It was stunning, and garnered one of the many standing ovations the band earned during this phenomenal show (we were not allowed to stand during the concert, due to the tv cameras).

Rick Nielsen (as I hear he always is) was on fire! He never stopped running around, playing with the crowd, or throwing picks at us. I even managed to get one (sorry again, Brian!.

At one point, bassist Tom Petersson looked right at me and smiled. Brian wants to kill me for being so corny, but I think I melted. It was just too sweet! That man is just adorable! I know I had to lean back in my seat and catch my breath. It was just too much with all these ultra-famous and ultra-talented guys being so cool and so close!

I found out later that Robin was hanging around the bar in the venue a few hours before the show. We were down the street at the mall just killing time then. If I had only known!!! And people met them after the show, too. I've gotta get back in the game of meeting bands - I think I'm slipping! I'm out of practice! I had no idea they were so accesible!

The show was two hours long and they played no less than 23 songs! Amazing, considering bands half their age can usually only manage to play 15 or 16! The show was one of the best I've ever attended, and for being my first Cheap Trick concert it will be impossible to top.

Set List:

Eight Miles Low

On Top Of The World

She's Tight

High Roller

Tonight It's You

She's So Bad

Ghost Town

Carnival Game

IWYTWM

Lookin' Out For Number One

Borderline

Special One (new song)

I Know What I Want (vocals by bassist Tom Petersson)

The Flame

Surrender

Give It Away

Didn't Know I Had It

Dream Police

Auf Wiedersehen

ENCORES:

Anytime

Fan Club

Clock Strikes 10

Goodnight

Cheap Trick is:

Where Do I Go From Here?

Back To Metal and Madness!
See Pictures From This Concert!