Review: Boston and Cheap Trick at the Forum in Inglewood, California

Hiya!

When I saw that the Boston tour was making a stop at the Forum in Inglewood, California, I had to go see them. There were no pre-conceived notions that this would be a super-great show, but I had never seen the band before and Cheap Trick was opening up for them, which is always worth the price of admission. Plenty of people think the same way, as this turned out to be a sold out show at the nicely-renovated facility.

To be honest, I did not even know that Boston was still together, nor that they had recorded a new album and were touring again. They band has pressed on after Brad Delp took his own life, having found Tommy DeCarlo on the internet to take on the singing chores and keyboard work, and he is pretty darned good. Of course, founding member and guitarist Tom Scholz still brought it to the stage, and the rest of the band was made up of guitarist Gary Pihl, Tracy Ferrie on bass, Kimberly Dahme on rhythm guitar, and god only know who was behind the drum kit. On guest vocals was American Idol finalist Siobhan Magnus, who also happens to be the niece of Ferrie.

Boston tore out a nearly two-hour set with over 20 songs, and it was actually pretty good. There were a few songs from their new album, Life, Love & Hope, but they mostly gave the crowd what they were looking for, which was all of their good stuff from the 1970s and 1980s. I do not know anybody who bought their newest album, do you?

Right out of the gate they hit it hard, starting off with “Rock and Roll Band,” “Smokin’,” and “Feellin’ Satisfied.” Scholz still has his distinctive chops (can you believe he is 67?) and his harmonization with Pilz was classic Boston. The band was tight, the vocal harmonies were good and DeCarlo was in top form. I have no complaints about their musicianship or their stage show.

The show did drag on a bit, and the few songs they did from their new album were certifiable yawners, but they played almost everything from their got-to-have-it double album. Boston did not leave out their gems, including “Peace of Mind,” “It’s Been Such a Long Time,” “Don’t Look Back,” “Amanda,” “More Than a Feeling” and “Long Time.” This was fortunate and made up for the sometimes ponderous pace.

It turned out that Boston’s performance was actually worth the price of admission. So, Cheap Trick’s set was like icing on the cake. I have seen them quite a few times over the past 30 years as they performed with bands such as Night Ranger and Aerosmith, and they have never disappointed.

They have been doing the same act for so long that you would think they would tire of it, but they still bring plenty of energy to each show. Robin Zander sounded way better than he did last year with Aerosmith, and at 61 he is showing no signs of slowing down. Rick Nielsen is still a total goofball, and his guitar skills have not faded. Tom Petersson did a passable job on bass, though I wish he had left the solo out. And there was a surprise behind the drum kit as Bun E. Carlos has stomped off and is suing the band, so Nielsen’s son Daxx was on the skins, and it was immediately obvious that Carlos made a mistake. Daxx is a much better drummer, and Bun will not be missed. Hah!

Cheap Trick mostly focused on their hits during their one-hour set, and they really brought their A-game. They included crowd favorites such as “Ain’t that a Shame,” “Surrender,” “Dream Police,” and I Want you to Want Me.” Every new rock band that is hitting big should be required to see a Cheap Trick show, or better yet, have to take them on tour with them so they can teach them what a real rock show is all about.

So I have to call the evening a success. If you have the chance to see Boston, see them. If Cheap Trick is on the bill too, definitely go see them. Trust me!

Mahalo!

Review of Cheap Trick and Aerosmith at the Staples Center in Los Angeles – December 3, 2012

Hello!

On Monday night I headed out to the Staples Center in Los Angeles to catch The Global Warming Tour which has two bands I have seen before: Cheap Trick and Aerosmith. I last saw Aerosmith maybe ten years ago in Atlanta and Cheap trick more than fifteen years ago in Irvine, and they were both in their prime from at the time. So, I wondered how these two groups have stood up to the test of time, and it turns out that they are still doing pretty well!

Cheap Trick kicked things off at 7:30 in the evening with “Hello There,” and when I saw Robin Zander wearing a bedazzled ice cream man suit (with a hat, even), I figured they must have hired David Lee Roth to be in the band, but it was just an optical illusion. They went on to blaze through a dozen more songs in their allotted hour, and as expected they managed to throw a few surprises into the show.

I think they have a different set list each night, and they always throw a few cool covers into the mix. This evening they did The Move’s “California Man, and The Beatles’ medley of “Golden Slumbers,” ”Carry That Weight” and “The End.” These songs proved beyond a doubt that Zander still has his singing chops. Aerosmith loaned them keyboardist Russ Irwin for the Beatles’ songs, which was a really nice touch.

Thankfully they did not do the hackneyed ballad, “The Flame,” but at the end of the show they played their biggest hits, including “I Want You To Want Me,” “Dream Police” and “Surrender.” They hit the ball out of the park on these, and did a great job of warming up the crowd, who came spilling back in for these last three songs when they heard what was going on. Brad Whitford from Aerosmith joined them on stage for “Surrender” – cool!

Cheap Trick had one notable personnel change: Daxx Nielsen (Rick’s son), was on drums, although their website still lists original member Bun E. Carlos as being in the band. Daxx plays the drums very well, by the way. The rest of the line-up is the same: Robin Zander on vocals, Tom Petersson on his terrible sounding 12-string bass, and Rick Nielsen on guitar (and mugging about the entire time like he is still in junior high school).

While the crew tore down Cheap Trick’s stage the crowd got to watch some handicam footage from backstage, which was a little confusing at best., and then things got going after a commercial about how great the new Aerosmith album is. Does this crowd really need this? Anyway, Staples Center was packed at this point, and the masses were treated to a rousing rendition of “Toys in the Attic” which led straight into “Love in an Elevator.” It was nice they gave us two of their big hits right out of the box, and the band was in good form and Tyler’s voice is still strong, despite the fact that they are all getting pretty old. One downer was that Perry’s guitar was way too quiet on these songs, but they got it fixed for the rest of the show.

Things went about as expected from there, with a mix of music more heavily slanted toward their previous work than their new album (which is pretty good, actually), and the band did a nice job of having video coverage on the screen behind the stage so that everybody could see what was going on. Tyler, Perry and Hamilton did a good job of working all parts of the stage, including the catwalk that extended all the way to the center of the arena. Whitford pretty much stayed put and never made it to my side of the stage.

Aerosmith had a few surprises in store, as Hollywood dreamboat Johnny Depp came onstage with his guitar and played along with cover versions of Fleetwood Mac’s “Stop Messin’ Around” and the Beatles’ “Come Together.” The man can really play the guitar, and he certainly had the outfit and tattoos to fit in on stage with these guys. They should have given him a wireless set-up, though…

They finished up their set with “Walk This way”, and for the encore they dusted off “Dream On”, “Mama Kin” and “Come Together.” Former Guns ‘n Roses rhythm guitar Izzy Stradlin joined in for “Mama Kin,” which surprised me even more than the Johnny Depp thing. All in all, it was one heck of a show, and the crowd was really great (bonus celebrity sightings: Gene Simmons and Shannon Tweed).

Granted, these guys all look terrible, as 40+ years in the rock and roll world is an eternity, but they are still rocking like madmen. Check out their Global Warming Tour when it hits your town – it is sure to be a fun-filled evening!

Mahalo!