Trick-or-Treat: Cheap Trick brings legendary rock stylings to Bloomington

About 25 years ago, Cheap Trick released one of the most successful live albums in rock history. Though they had already released several albums, now classics "Cheap Trick," "In Color" and "Heaven Tonight," it wasn't until "Live at Budokan" that one of the most important power-pop bands got the attention it deserved in the U.S. The band exploded after that with its hook-laden, hard-rock tunes and tongue-in-cheek attitudes.\nThe band is currently touring the Midwest and will play at Axis on Feb. 17. \nIU music professor Glenn Gass, who teaches rock history, has remained a faithful Cheap Trick fan since its breakthrough in the late '70s.\n"Rick Nielsen was a great songwriter, guitarist and showman, and they were, and still are, a really great and fun band with a terrific set list to pull from," Gass says. "Cheap Trick were a breath of fresh air when they hit, with all the urgency and power of punk but with a strong melodic sensibility and impeccable songcraft. I hated disco and loved the Sex Pistols but couldn't figure out how to update all those years of growing up with the Beatles until Cheap Trick came along. Cheap Trick and Elvis Costello were my personal favorites of 1978, stunningly fresh without cutting off their '60s pop-rock roots."\nThere may be a definite influence of bands like the Beatles, but Cheap Trick sees it as a natural part of growing up at that time. \nCheap Trick guitarist and chief songwriter Rick Nielsen says the music he heard as a kid has shaped his approach to song writing.\n"The Beatles' influence is like Saturday morning cartoons. I just grew up with it," Nielsen says.\nRock critic Jim DeRogatis, who has followed the progression of rock music trends over the years, says Cheap Trick's sound seems to transcend time. \n"They were always doing what they'd done before 'Budokan' was big," DeRogatis says. "It's kind of funny though because you're talking about 'pop' music that isn't popular. It's too smart, sophisticated. But then, an interesting hook doesn't age. It's something that could've been recorded yesterday or whenever."\nThough a lot of the attention Cheap Trick has received came directly from "Live at Budokan," Nielsen likes to point out that the band has continued to be as successful with its studio efforts as with playing live. \n"Well, we've put out three live albums and about 20 studio albums," he says. "And in 2001 we played about 200 shows and this year we're off and running. We keep fresh by putting out new music. A couple years ago we re-learned some of the old stuff too."\nGass claims that Cheap Trick's reputation as a great live band is just as important to its popularity.\n"They really love playing and are a real working band, still out there for the sheer love of it," Gass says.\nDeRogatis says that Cheap Trick's popularity goes beyond being one of the hardest working bands. \n"One week they played at the Metro and each night of the week they played one of the first four or five albums straight through in its entirety," DeRogatis says. "Nostalgia is the enemy of all great art, but they challenged themselves. That's part of why I've never seen a bad show." \nNielsen likes playing the smaller venues just as much as the arenas. \n"I just like to play," he says. "If it sounds good, then a small place is good. Think about it like this: if the Stones played three arenas and a club, which one would you like to see?" \nThe upcoming tour should cover the U.S., Germany, Amsterdam and even The Royal Albert Hall in London, but Nielsen says they like playing college towns just as well. Though they're shows always draw a crowd, Nielsen says he still doesn't really consider himself a rockstar. \n"Mick Jagger's a rockstar. It's someone like that who everybody will recognize," he says. "I never liked 'rockstar.' A stewardess will be a fan or the guy at the restaurant. It's always something different."\nSo maybe his face isn't on Rolling Stone this month, but when armed with his five-neck guitar and ZZ Top's worst nightmare goatee, Nielsen is still one of the more recognizable figures in classic rock. For him, it's not a gimmick but a way of keeping things interesting, using his energetic, prankster persona to connect with the audience. \n"I'm a hyperactive kid and I'd be hyperactive if I lived to be 200," he says.\nBut that's part of the attraction, DeRogatis says. \n"(Their image is) the no-nonsense, everyman thing that is inately Midwestern," DeRogatis says. "No matter how much of a geek you were, Rick was more of a geek than you. It's that 'anti-cool' cool. That's the charm of it." \nAfter being in the music business this long, Cheap Trick is familiar with its different aspects. Cheap Trick has recorded with a number of labels, from some of the big boys like Warner Bros. to the now defunct Red Ant Alliance. \n"There are benefits and detriments to every label," Nielson says. "To generalize doesn't say anything. Nobody cares what label you're on. The kids don't care. Corporate can be great. Corporate can suck. Indie can be great. Indie can suck. It really depends on the band. Hendrix today sells more records than when he was alive."\nWith power-pop and a sort of post-punk revival of melodic, radio-friendly music, Cheap Trick is cited more and more often as a sort of benchmark for the style. \n"When other bands say, 'I like Cheap Trick,' then I look for it and a lot of times I can see an influence there," Nielson says. "You lose and steal as many things as you can."\nEven within that style, Cheap Trick could stand out as musicians and personalities with the same sense of humor as the crowd. Maybe that's why after so many years of playing with such different bands as The Kinks, Kiss, Smashing Pumpkins and Stone Temple Pilots, Cheap Trick is still around making music. \n"They were just one of those bands that came out when it was becoming 'arena rock,' DeRogatis says, "but Rick, Bun E., all those guys were great musicians...and great songwriters"