Camden, NJ—When the legendary band Cheap Trick took the stage on the last day of July, it was hot. Fans were still imbibing and they didn’t have a full house to play for. By the time they played their second song, “California Man,” the crowd started to fill in and it added to the ambience.
Early on there was an old-style bass solo with Tom Petersson, and drummer Daxx Nielsen (Rick’s son) played some steady drums. Peterson later broke out his 12-string bass.
Midway through lead singer Robin Zander belted out “The Flame” and “I Want You To Want Me” followed. Rick Nielsen was crazy good during that tune.
“Dream Police” and “Surrender” fired up the crowd. Zander was wearing a glittery jack and Rick Nielsen utilized the walkway to the crowd to show off a bit more. He later used the double neck guitar and quadruple neck, because why not?
The show closed out with “Auf Wiedersehen” and “Goodnight.” The band was tight, and they played the new, the old and the forgotten to perfection.
Joan Jett And The Blackhearts
The show started off with “Bad Reputation” and behind Joan Jett was a running video, almost a silent movie of the band’s history. It was neat.
The band rattled off “Cherry Bomb” and “Do You Wanna Touch,” and that really amped up the audience participation.
On “TMI,” drummer Thommy Price played a great marching band style that was very heavy.
Joan dusted off a second Runaways song, “You Drive Me Wild,” stating it was the first song she ever wrote. It was well received.
On the song “Any Weather,” the crowd roared when she said she wrote that track with Dave Grohl.
The show closed out incredibly strong with “I Love Rock ’n’ Roll,” “Crimson & Clover” and “I Hate Myself For Loving You.” Jett was smoking on the guitar. Spontaneously the crowd was waving their fingers as well.
Her Sly & The Family Stone cover, “Everyday People,” provided a strong close to the show. Guitarist Dougie Needles and bassist Enzo shined on this one.
Heart
The band opened up with “Wild Child.” They built up some anticipation at the beginning and Ann Wilson already started to wow the crowd with her special vocals.
Their second selection was “Magic Man.” Guitarist Craig Bartock really worked the whammy bar to perfection.
Keyboardist Chris Joyner played a delicate intro to “What About Love.” On “These Dreams,” Nancy Wilson played the mandolin and that added to the beauty of the song.
On the song “Two,” Nancy talked about how the band acquired the rights to it (written by Ne-Yo). It was a little glimpse into the music business and how bands can add great songs into their repertoire. The two had some great harmonies on this one.
At one point, Ann stated, “We know you’re nice and you wanna rock!” and that really got the crowd going.
For “Straight On,” Nancy was wearing a flowery headband. Something like a Snapchat filter.
Ann’s pipes really shined on “Beautifully Broken.” The acoustic open for “Crazy On You” was a nice touch and the set closed out with “Barracuda,” still an iconic rock song.
The last two tracks were special. The crowd really loved hearing Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song” and then Nancy opened up “Stairway To Heaven” with an acoustic gem before the band totally rocked out and really made this song their own.
This triple bill could have been the best show to see this summer!
Show date: July 31, 2016
