The Vic Theatre
Chicago, IL
April 12, 2003

Review by Anita Lande / Photos by Niva Bringas

Hello There, Ladies & Gentlemen...  The Flame is still burning red hot for Cheap Trick and that is especially true when they perform on their home town of Chicago.

    Most bands have their one or two hits and vanish quickly from the music world until they appear on one of those "Where are they Now" cable shows. Cheap Trick certainly does not have to worry about that, as they have been
playing for over twenty years with no signs of slowing down anytime soon.  Rick Nielsen's hook-heavy rock riffs, Robin Zander's catchy rock lyrics, and the tight rhythm work of Bun E. Carlos and Tom Petersson always seem to make
for a memorable concert. 

    Cheap Trick's Zander seems to be one of the best dressed male vocalists in rock 'n' roll today.  At The Vic, he was wearing a slick plaid suit with his blond hair flowing back and forth as he started the show with "Hello There."  Wildman guitarist Nielsen had fun with the audience and as as always acted the clown and made them part of the show.  He made sure that he flung a steady stream of guitar pics out to the anxious but unusually mellow crowd.
 
    Zander had some early technical problems and kept getting bad shocks from his microphone, so the show stopped briefly while techs worked to ground the troubledsome mic.  But not to worry, for Nielsen poked around with the crowd
for a while, shaking hands and being his usual playful self during the musical down time, keeping the crowd content and amused.

   Zander then came back and sang many crowd pleasers that not only spanned the band's quarter century career, but included some brand new songs.    Yet, as one might expect, it was the classic Trick numbers that finally kicked the
crowd into high gear ––  "Big Eyes," "Tonight It's You", "Surrender"  and "Dream Police" –– seemed to get the biggest response of the night.    Even though he missed the high notes on "If You Want My Love", Zander's vocal were
right on.

    Cheap Trick has just launched into their 2003 worldwide tour, and even though they been around for a few decades, the remain one of the better band on the road and one of the most consistant crowd-pleasers who give fans a
great rock 'n' roll bang for their buck.

    

We still love to hear those six little words ... 

"I Want You to Want Me".  Don't worry boys, we do!