Kicking off the night with Def Leppard and Journey at Rogers Centre, Toronto, were rock legends Cheap Trick. Celebrating 50 years last year, Cheap Trick still knows how to deliver a kickass rock ‘n’ roll performance.
Cheap Trick
Rogers Centre, Toronto – 2 August 2024
Words And Photography: Taylor Cameron
Rabin Zander at the helm, still sports an attitude and fashion sense onstage that screams rockstar, the lead singer continuing to appear as a larger than life figure.
Performing deeps cuts, as well as their smash hits, Cheap Trick held the Toronto crowds attention effortlessly, it being clear that these men continue to love what they do.
Rick Neilson played an array of funky guitars, the coolest being a double-neck guitar with a cartoon caricature of himself as the body, the guitar necks and headstocks acting as legs and feet.
A personal favourite Cheap Trick song, The Flame, had the room erupting into cheers as Zander played the acoustic intro. The power ballad is always a crowd-pleaser.
I Want You To Want Me, Dream Police and Surrender, followed, the crowd excitedly standing to their feet to sing along to the iconic tracks.
Cheap Trick finished off their set with Goodnight, a song the band released on their Live from Budokan LP, and what a perfect way to close out their performance.
As the crowd said goodnight to Cheap Trick, the anticipation for Journey immediately began.
That the latter would soon cancel their UK and Ireland tour would leave European Cheap Trick fans gutted. You sense Cheap Trick themselves would be pretty annoyed.
You can read each of the reports from an evening at Rogers Centre here: Def Leppard – Journey – Cheap Trick.
