This is a double bill made in heaven for someone like me. Not only am I a big fan of Cheap Trick, but Rod Stewart is also someone I have followed since I was a child. When I first heard the announcement, I was really hoping they would make a stop in the Twin Cities, and thankfully they did.
With Cheap Trick, you always know what you’re going to get when they are in an opening act slot. It’s common sense when you’re a band as diverse as they are, you must play to the audience that’s in front of you. Considering that a lot of the audience were older, Cheap Trick adjusted their setlist and played the songs they felt would not only best represent them but also entertain the crowd. There were an awful lot of cheap trick fans there as well, it’s not like it was just a Rod Stewart audience.
It’s never a disappointment for me regarding the set list because I love this band so much it really doesn’t matter what they play. The one advantage of seeing them when they are the headliner is not only a longer set but they also pull-out songs that you don’t normally hear from time to time. But they did not disappoint on this evening. They performed the song “Downed” and turned the lead vocals over to Robin Zander’s son Robin Taylor Zander that tours with the group. In my opinion he did a great job with lead vocals on that song. You could tell that Robin was watching him and proud of his boy. The other highlight, which was very smart, they played a Beatles song, “Magical Mystery Tour”. Just like I mentioned at the beginning of the article, they know their audience. Their entire set was about an hour long and was met with a standing ovation.
What continues to surprise me most is how incredible of a singer Robin Zander is. I could make the argument that he’s the greatest rock singer of all time. He defies time and seems to get better as he gets older. You could really hear how amazing he truly is when the band played one of their biggest hits, “The Flame”. I was sitting with my buddy Kyle watching this performance and we both looked at each other like, holy shit, is he amazing! For my money this is the best version of cheap trick ever. Some of you will have a problem with that, but too bad. Cheap Trick is a band that deserves your respect and attention. Go see them, I promise you he will leave with a smile on your face and won’t regret going to the show. No Bun E.? No Problem!
I’ve seen headliner Rod Stewart many times over the last 30 plus years. For me, his performance at Xcel on Saturday night was the best I’ve ever seen. When the lights went up at the end of the show and I was leaving the venue. I was walking up the stairs and I could still see him standing backstage dancing and jumping up and down like a kid. You could tell he knew how he and the band totally nailed it that night. Any of you that are regular concert goers and have seen different acts over the years multiple times will totally understand what I’m trying to say. It’s nothing that I can put into words per se, but you can just feel how engaged that performer is at that moment in time.
He opened up with the Robert Palmer song, ”Addicted To Love”. complete with having the girls dressed up just like the video. That threw everybody for a loop and was a great opener. Every time he comes to town he always changes not only his stage setup but the set list period of course he’s always going to play some of the hits that the audience expects to hear like ”Maggie May”, “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy”, “Forever Young”, “Some Guys Have All The Luck” and “Young Turks”. But he went much deeper in his catalog for this show. The first example I will give you that I’ve never heard him perform before is, “The Killing of Georgie (Part 1 and 2)”. It sounded so incredibly fresh during his acoustic set which was in the middle of the concert. He also added “You Wear It Well” and “People Get Ready”.
He always has an incredible band with him, and he has amazing backup singers that took over while he was doing an outfit change, they performed Blondie’s “Call Me” and Donna Summer’s “Hot Stuff”. I enjoyed that but I would have dropped a few of the covers he did like Credence Clearwater Revival’s “Have You Ever Seen the Rain?”, Marvin Gaye’s “It Takes Two” and Sam Cooke’s “Having a Party”. Not because they’re bad songs, I would prefer to listen to him do his own material. There were several songs that I felt were noticeably missing from the set. These are the songs I would have much rather seen him perform that would have made this concert perfect. He should have added ”Passion”, “Infatuation” and “Baby Jane”.
All in all, it was a fantastic performance by two legendary acts. I should add that the stage show was amazing. They had the entire perimeter of the stage from top to bottom framed in video monitors. Take a look at the photos to give yourself the perspective because it’s too hard to put in words. Considering that Rod Stewart is now in his late 70s, this could be his last tour, but you never know. If you’re even a casual fan, get out there and see him before he stops touring. As for Cheap Trick? Well, they just plain rock and there’s never a bad time to go see them!
