Cheap Trick Rocked Out The Classics In Battle Creek
Despite the bad weather through out the day on Friday, many made the trip to Battle Creek to see the Hall of Fame rockers Cheap Trick at Firekeepers Casino.
This was my first time seeing the band so I was excited to see not only what songs they were going to perform, but what guitars Rick Nielsen was going to show off.
They kicked off the show in typical fashion by ripping through "Hello There". and the song "ELO Kiddies". A nod to the 40th anniversary of their breakthrough ,"At Budokan" with the performance of "Ain't That A Shame". Rick Nielsen mentioned the anniversary this year of the album.
As the show went on each song featured Rick Nielsen and a different guitar. He would occasionally throw picks into the crowd. My Wife and I being in the third row for the show both ended up with one each.
Towards the middle of the show a spotlight was given to bassist Tom Petersson who sang lead on a cover of "I'm Waiting For The Man" originally by The Velvet Underground. One of my favorite songs of the evening.
The show would wrap up with the classics, "The Flame", " I Want You To Want Me" and "Dream Police". As you would expect the crowd was into it and singing right along to these classic anthems with Robin Zander.
The band came back out for an encore that featured "Surrender". Another great show from the Hall of Fame band came to a close.
It was my first time seeing them and I wasn't disappointed. I'll admit I am not that familiar with a large amount of their catalog but I didn't care I enjoyed the performance. A band that you should at least see once if you get the chance.
If you missed Cheap Trick this time around they just recently announced a summer tour with Poison that will be in Michigan at DTE Energy Music Theatre in June.
Check out their full setlist from their show in Battle Creek.
Bonus Video: