CHEAP TRICK BRINGS BUDOKAN TO VEGAS!

It is always exciting when Cheap Trick comes to town! But when they came to perform at the Venetian April 17th and 18th when they did their complete Budokan set from 1978!

When the boys all took the stage, the crowd went wild. Some fans held up signs that said it was the150th show and one fan even dressed like Rick Nielsen from head to toe! Rick saluted the fan dressed like him during the show. And as always Robin has those steel pipes that never seem to age! He still hits all the high notes with power after all these years! Tom Peterson still holds down the bass grove with ease and Daxx Nielsen can hit those skins!

The legends kicked off the show with “Hello”. But there was some confusion with the second song. I’m not sure if Daxx or Rick went into the intro of the wrong song but it was quickly rectified. Rick later joked “Well, we just made our first Japanese mistake!” My favorite hits continued with “Big Eyes”, “Oh Caroline”, “Surrender”, “High Roller”, “Southern Girls”, “California Man” and ending with “Clock Strikes Ten” at 10pm with the crowd that stood on their feet throughout entire show!

When they played “Surrender” I was alert and waiting for Rick to throw out the record album with all his guitar picks on it when Robin sings the line “Rock and Rollin got my KISS records out”. But it didn’t happen! I was shocked and noticed Rick wasn’t throwing out his guitar picks by the buckets like he usually does.

My friend told me he heard his shoulder was hurt. Oh no! Poor thing! I hope you feel better soon Rick! I like the fact that Rick Nielsen’s son Daxx is on the drums and Robin Zander’s son Taylor helps out on vocals and guitar as a star in his own right. Talent definitely runs in those two families! Daxx is always so sweet and I loved having him and Rick attend my Vegas Rocks! Awards show in 2024. Taylor is also a sweetheart. When I was backstage in San Pedro, Taylor went and got me a coke from his dressing room. Both of those boys learned how to treat people so nicely by their dads!

Like me and all the other fans there that night, Cheap Trick has been such a huge part of our lives. They were there when we were young and growing up until now for 50 years. I can still remember when I saw Cheap Trick in concert in Yokohama, Japan in 1981 and I was walking around with Rick as he was barking like a dog at the Japanese girls who just stood there in awe and giggled. Through my tough times living in Tennessee, they would come to town and cheer me up as Rick would throw guitar picks to me including one that landed perfectly on my lips!

They never turned down autographs or photos and were always gracious and humble. When I first came to Las Vegas I saw them at the Mandalay Beach, where I stood in the water grabbing guitar picks that were impossible to grab floating in the water. Before or after that particular show, I had by Cheap Trick albums for them to sign as they ran by and I got everyone’s signatures but Rick. I saw him walking away backstage and I kept saying: “Please Rick! Please Sign my albums!” Rick was getting pretty far away as I kept begging and then he finally stopped and turned around and came over to me and signed them all. He didn’t have to do that. But he just couldn’t walk away from a real fan!

Over the years I have gotten to know Rick and Robin pretty well and I value their friendship so much! I am so glad these true legends of Rock are still with us and touring. I often wonder how empty my life would be if they weren’t around. But they are still out there and for that I am so grateful!
Thank you for coming to Las Vegas guys! I hope you will come back soon!

– Sally Steele
Photos: Sally Steele