On Repeat Cheap Trick's At Budokan

With Cheap Trick headed to the Barrymore Theatre for a sold-out Monday show, it's time for our new-local-records column to make a little detour—30 years back or so. Besides, Decider's old vinyl copy of Cheap Trick's live album At Budokan lists "520 University Ave." in Madison as the Rockford band's fan-club address, and the show is a benefit for a former Cheap Trick roadie who resides in Madison. So, close enough.

Is there any other band that could get away with beginning a show with a song called "Hello There"? Yes, it's also an album kick-off (on Cheap Trick's In Color), but here, back in 1978, Cheap Trick lunges into its screaming, zealous Japanese fans in Tokyo's Nippon Budokan arena with a song that basically tells you, "Hey everyone, a show is starting!" It also helps to shake away any doubts as the listener once again enters the crapshoot world of live albums: There's no half-assed vocal phrasing here, the crowd noise is balanced pretty nicely with the band, and Rick Nielsen's guitar and Robin Zander's vocals sound both grittier and brighter than on the album version.

Can't argue with that start, but the "oh, this is why I'm listening to this album the whole way through again" moment comes somewhere in the middle of "Big Eyes," when Zander's roughed himself up to the commanding bark of a young Roger Daltrey, and Nielsen whips his chugging chords against a twisty, melodic bridge that could work only in his own upside-down songwriting universe. Here's another reason why it's okay to compare Cheap Trick to The Who: They've got a lot of eccentricities in the mix, yet they set a top-tier example of how to be a rock band. I'm not saying Bun E. Carlos plays drums like Keith Moon, because he isn't quite as nuts, but his ecstatic fills are a big part of what makes "Surrender" sound new and refreshed every few bars.

Speaking of "Surrender," isn't the version here just furious compared to the studio track? Less synth and more Nielsen powerchords just ringing out all over it, more of that awesome tension between heavy hooks and that sweet, reassuring chorus. Usually, it's enough for a live band to be tight and passionate, but At Budokan still gives the feeling that live Cheap Trick is the ultimate Cheap Trick.