On April 8, 2016, Cheap Trick became a first ballot inductee into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.  A week earlier, they released their 17th studio album “Bang, Zoom, Crazy…Hello,” an album which saw the band return to the top forty on Billboard’s Top 200 album chart for the first time in twenty-seven years. Coming July 17th, the band is scheduled to kick-off a thirty date U.S.
tour with Heart and Joan Jett in Clarkson, Michigan. With all the appearances, interviews, publicity and press associated with their induction, new album and latest tour, one could be forgiven for thinking that Cheap Trick is “back.”  Fact is, since the very inception of the band in Rockford, Illinois in 1973, Cheap Trick has Never been gone!  In a career spanning forty-plus years, the band has released nearly forty
albums, sold in excess of twenty million units and played over 5000 concerts!Cheap Trick’s current lineup includes Robin Zander, Rick Nielsen and Tom Petersson, the same Cheap Trick that took the stage during their heyday, save for drummer Bun E. Carlos.  Carlos, while technically “still in the
band,” has been replaced by Rick Nielsen’s son Daxx, who does an admiral job bangin’ the skins.

On April 18th, an invitation only crowd gathered on a Red Studios soundstage in Hollywood for the taping of Cheap Trick playing a ninety minute set of their greatest hits. Despite a lifetime of nonstop touring,
classics such as I Want You to Want Me, Top of the World, Surrender, California Man, Ain’t That a Shame and Dream Police sounded just like I remember the songs back when the band was saturating the airwaves and selling out stadiums.  Surprisingly, the passion and intensity remains.

Upcoming episodes on the new AT&T AUDIENCE Network series will spotlight
performances by Blue Oyster Cult, Pat Benatar, Young the Giant, Daughtry
and many others (encompassing all genres), and will continue to feature in-depth artist interviews, conducted by Ted Stryker of KROQ.

Christopher Long, senior vice president of original content and production at AT&T said the company plans to make AUDIENCE Network “the premiere destination for music lovers this year.”  New shows premiere each Friday at (9:00 PM (PT/ET) on DIRECTV Ch.239/U-verse Ch. 1114, as well as streaming on directv.com and uverse.com. The shows will also stream to smart phones and tablets via DIRECTV and U-verse apps.

The interview and live concert with Cheap Trick that the lucky few got to enjoy back in April is definitely worth checking out. On some device or other!

Review by:  John G. Tobin