Cheap Trick / Stone Broken - Kentish Town Forum, London (UK) - 27 June 2017

Stone Broken delivered an utterly professional energised set that was incredible to see for ones so young. They have always reminded me musically of Nickelback and I have enjoyed them more live than on record. They also channelled a mean Southern guitar à la Lynyrd Skynyrd which was none too shabby! Apparently tonight there was a guy "Wes" from the US who had travelled all the way from The States to see them. Most of the songs were from their debut album 'All In Time' but they played something new in 'Doesn't Matter' which had an air siren of a chorus. Each time I see them they get better at stage craft and audience rapport making them ones to watch!




Cheap Trick went down a storm despite Robin Zander being almost unrecognisable under a military cap and shades. There was no mistaking that voice though, and being able to see 'The Flame' live was worth the price of the ticket alone. I can't believe they were thinking of missing it out, they only played it apparently because the song-writer was in the audience. This was clearly true as I saw a roadie hand-write it on the set-list moments before the band took the stage. Rick Nielsen was recognisable in his trademark baseball cap and racing check pattern guitar strap; we were even treated to a brief glimpse of his double-necked guitar shaped like himself. He walked fast and played faster which proved he has not forgotten the meaning of Rock 'n' Roll. Doing a Mexican wave with his guitar and his trade mark strut and strong-arm gesture he knew he had nailed it. He threw literally hundreds of guitar picks into the audience during 'Dream Police' which suggested that he wasn't on a budget.

I would have preferred to have heard less cover versions in the set (I counted at least six), and it's not like they don't have the songs(!). That being said, it was great to see 'In Crowd' (a Dobie Gray cover) which I loved from the last but one album and Zander's voice sounded great on 'Magical Mystery Tour'. This was a band relaxed and confident with the audience in the palm of their hand and maybe that's why they chose to play music they wanted to play rather than what they second guessed the audience wanted to hear from their original material. Although there seemed to be some sound problems with Zander tapping his in-ear monitor, judging from the tremendous reaction from the crowd they didn't seem to notice. With titanic recent original 'When I Wake Up Tomorrow' Cheap Trick showed that they are still writing great songs, and by the time we arrived at 'I Want You To Want Me' the audience were going wild.




It was a star-studded audience tonight with Mike Monroe, the Phil Collins band and Guy Griffin from The Quireboys (and these were just the ones I spotted) in attendance which reflected the status that this band holds amongst musicians as "The American Beatles". They could certainly be satisfied with their reception. Zander commented recently that their record company is right behind them hence their rapid succession of new albums. From the way they went down tonight, I'd like to think they'll be back soon.

Dawn Osborne