Sgt. Pepper
Live Featuring Cheap Trick
Paris Theatre
Las Vegas,
Nevada
August 4, 2010
By Howard
Whitman
Set List:
I Am the Walrus | Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band | With A
Little Help From My Friends | Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds |
Getting Better | Fixing A Hole | She's Leaving Home | Being For
The Benefit Of Mr. Kite | Within You Without You | When I'm
Sixty-Four | Lovely Rita | Good Morning Good Morning | Sgt.
Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise) | A Day In The Life |
Medley: Stop This Game-The Flame-Gonna Raise Hell | Dream Police
| Smile | World's Greatest Lover | I Want You To Want Me |
Surrender | Golden Slumbers | Carry That Weight | The End | All
You Need Is Love
Talk about
something that could go either way ... the prospect of Cheap
Trick, Rockford, Illinois’ gift to power pop, doing a show of
(mostly) Beatles songs is at once a no-brainer and a potentially
colossally bad idea. It’s a no-brainer because the Fab Four has
always been one of Cheap Trick’s main inspirations; it’s
potentially a bad plan because Cheap Trick is not a band
necessarily known for finesse. They’ve always been a raucous,
loud, over-the-top rock quartet, and more power to ’em!
Still, I
was very interested in this show, figuring that at the least, it
would be an interesting train wreck, especially taking into
consideration that this was a Vegas production, so the
possibility of that town’s cheesy showbiz and over-the-top-ness
loomed as well. Add in the fact that founding drummer Bun E.
Carlos is on hiatus, replaced by CT guitarist Rick Nielsen’s son
Daxx, and who knows how this could go?
The good
news, and there’s plenty of it, is that this is a great show,
superbly executed and very entertaining. It’s not exactly a rock
concert—more of a hybrid between Vegas spectacle, Broadway
revue, and rock show—but it exceeded my expectations as all the
best entertainment experiences do.
A little
history: Cheap Trick first performed The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper
album in its entirety for a one-off show at the Hollywood Bowl
in 2007 celebrating the 40th anniversary of John, Paul, George
and Ringo’s revolutionary psychedelic masterpiece. The show was
so well-received that the band recorded and filmed a subsequent
show, featuring guest singers like Joan Osbourne, for CD and DVD
release. But soon enough, Vegas came calling, and the band did
some well-received stints at the Las Vegas Hilton. The
production has now moved to the Paris Hotel (home of the replica
of the Eiffel Tower).
The
performance kicked off, suitably enough, with Daxx Nielsen
kicking off the classic drum lick that starts “I Am the Walrus.”
Cheap Trick did not, however, come out for the Magical
Mystery Tour classic. Instead, it was sung in unison by the
six young men at the top of the set (which resembled an old-time
proscenium theater) who comprise the show’s choir, accompanied
by the production’s 20- (or so) piece orchestra, along with Daxx,
second guitarist Bill Lloyd and a keyboardist who goes by “Magic
Cristian” (nice Badfinger reference).
After this
nice start to the show, the momentum dropped a bit as a screen
came down to show a short film of Tricksters Rick Nielsen,
singer Robin Zander and bassist Tom Petersson talking about the
show and The Beatles. Zander made a good point in the film that
the production’s not about hearing The Beatles played exactly
like The Beatles—it’s about hearing Cheap Trick play The
Beatles.
That was a
good thought to keep in mind as, moments later, I heard the
unmistakable guitar squeal of Rick Nielsen lead the charge as
the band came out to the opening “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts
Club Band” theme. As you’d imagine, Zander absolutely killed on
the lead vocal. His voice is made for shouters like that one.
After indicating that the lively, really-into-it orchestra
conductor was “the one and only Billy Shears” (actually his name
is Edwin Outwater), they moved on to “A Little Help from My
Friends.” It was here and on most of the subsequent Sgt.
Pepper songs that the show really benefited from the
presence of the choir of six young men who looked like they’d
just graduated from the School of Rock. They very carefully and
precisely negotiated the call-and-response “do you need
anybody?” part of the song. That’s a good thing, because, let’s
face it, in concert Cheap Trick’s never really been a great
harmony band. It’s no secret that Zander overdubs the pristine
backing vocals on Cheap Trick’s studio albums, but do the
math—there were four singing Beatles (OK, Ringo wasn’t much help
in that department) but there's only one Robin.
Still, he
did a great job evoking—but not imitating—the voices of John and
Paul (and yes, Ringo) as the ensemble played the Sgt. Pepper
songs in the album order. Zander’s always had a bit of a Lennon
quaver in his voice, and that served him well on songs like
“Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” but like he said in the film,
this was about him and Cheap Trick putting their stamp on the
music, not just doing a “Beatlemania” performance.
Speaking of
which, it's cool to note that while your typical Beatles tribute
show will feature pre-recorded backing tracks or lots of
synthesizer fakery, everything here was played live. Sure, there
were a few sound samples for things like crowd noises—or the
farm sounds on “Good Morning, Good Morning”—but all strings,
horns, percussion, etc. were played right there onstage.
What else?
Cheap Trick’s most underrated player, Tom Petersson, was
spectacular throughout. Leaving his thunderous 12-string bass
home, Petersson stuck to four-string for this show, playing all
of the Sgt. Pepper songs on a beat-up but sturdy sounding
Gibson Les Paul-styled bass. He hit all the right notes, evoking
McCartney’s classic lines while also bringing his own powerful,
ever-so-slightly distorted bass style to the songs.
Rick
Nielsen does what Rick Nielsen does. He may not be the most
precise guitarist around, but he’s a hell of an entertainer and
a master of the power chords. Even at age 63, he has seemingly
endless energy, tossing picks around, mugging for the crowd, and
being every bit the classic rock ‘n’ roll character he always
was. And, like Zander and Petersson, Nielsen brought a lot of
personality to The Beatles’ songs, doing things like dropping in
the closing chords from CT’s opener “Hello There" at the end of
“Lucy in the Sky ..." or taking an extended, loony guitar solo
in the middle of “Lovely Rita."
But what
about Daxx? How did he do, standing in for arguably CT’s most
distinctive instrumentalist, the great Bun E.? Well, soon into
the show it was very clear to me that Daxx didn’t get this gig
just because of his last name. He’s an excellent, sturdy,
hard-hitting drummer—not as unique as “Bunny” (who is?) but
perfectly suited to The Beatles music, and a very credible
addition to the Cheap Trick sound. Remember when you first heard
Zak Starkey play with The Who and recognized that he was awesome
in his own right besides being Ringo’s son? It’s kinda like
that.
There were
some amazing moments, none more riveting than when Tom Petersson
came out and sang George Harrison’s “Within You Without You"
accompanied by a spot-on six-piece Indian ensemble, complete
with sitars, tablas, bass tampura and swarmandal, all backed by
the wonderful, tight orchestra playing George Martin’s original
arrangement. Very moving, and Tom did an especially nice job on
the vocal.
This being
a Vegas show, it did have its shticky moments, especially after
the band finished the Sgt. Pepper portion with a stirring “A Day
in the Life.” As the chord that closes that song reverberated,
it segued into the opening of “Stop This Game” from Cheap
Trick’s 1980 LP All Shook Up (produced by The Beatles’
legendary George Martin) kicking off an orchestral medley of CT
songs anchored by Daxx’s rock-steady rhythms.
Then the
band came back out for what was a highlight for the audience, at
least based on their reaction—Cheap Trick playing Cheap Trick
songs. The Vegas shtick crept in as Nielsen started the Lennon-esque
“World’s Greatest Lover”, singing the opening verse as he played
a Baby Grand piano, or when he sang the “They spy on me” part of
“Dream Police” flanked by—what else?—two stunning Vegas
showgirls.
Of course,
they did their two classics, “I Want You to Want Me” and
“Surrender”—and totally brought the house down. Hearing the band
crash through these standards with the orchestral accompaniment
was a treat and the crowd went nuts.
It almost
seemed like the audience wanted to hear them do Cheap Trick more
than The Beatles. I wonder how this same production, with chorus
and orchestra, but with an all-Cheap Trick setlist, would do? I
think just fine. Judging by the reaction, the folks in
attendance were there to hear Cheap Trick songs as much—or
more—than those of The Beatles, so much so that it almost seemed
like a disappointment when they finished with the closing medley
of Abbey Road—complete with dueling guitars between
Nielsen, Zander and Lloyd on “The End”—and a full-cast
sing-along on “All You Need Is Love.”
But I
wasn’t disappointed. It was a great, lively performance,
well-staged and delivered with some of the best live sound I’ve
ever heard. There’s a reason for that: Beatles engineer Geoff
Emerick, who worked on All Shook Up, provided sound
direction for the show, but he didn’t just set it up and go—Emerick
was there at the board, as he will be for every performance of
this run.
Overall,
this was a very entertaining show—not exactly rock ‘n’ roll
(you’ll get plenty of that when Cheap Trick gets back on the
road after the Vegas run), but a night of great music, played
superbly with heart, soul and a lot of love. And, after all,
that’s all you need.
Sgt. Pepper
Live featuring Cheap Trick
will be at the Paris Theatre Aug, 13, 14, 17, 18; and Sept. 9,
10, 11, 16, 17, 18.
