6-14-07

Intro to Rock Music 143

Cheap Trick

Introduction

The city of Charlotte has an annual event to celebrate the Coca-Cola 600

NASCAR race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway called “Speed Street”. The event is free for everyone and has numerous bands and venders to commemorate the race. Three separate stages were set up on different streets so the crowd could listen to the genre of music that appealed to them. This year Puddle of Mudd represented the post-grunge hard rock stage, Diamond Rio for country, and finally Cheap Trick for the classic rock fans. The audience for Cheap Trick mainly consisted of older adults in their thirties and forties with a spattering of college students. Cheap Trick played to their audiences expectations through their music choices and stage performance.

Description

The performance took place in the downtown area of Charlotte. Roads were blocked off to make room for the music stages, venues, and activities. Everyone was outside the entire time and the biggest bands played after dark. The event was sponsored by NASCAR, Coca-Cola, and beer companies. NASCAR and Coca-Cola provided many booths for people to enjoy, like ring toss and tire changing competitions. The beer companies sponsored the event to make a profit since large majorities of racing fans also drink beer at NASCAR races. The older generation of fans allows them to be of the drinking age and thus more likely to buy beer at the event. Toton 2

The audience was mostly middle aged adults and teenagers with the occasional family. Speed Street is a family oriented event, so the bands that played could not be to outlandish. The crowd was mostly married couples or a group of students hanging out together. They consisted of middle-class and lower-class people because the race helps draw out the stereotypical trailer park residents. There were a lot of red necks and hillbillies in the audience and it helped create a more laidback feel. The crowd was able to sing along during the chorus of “I Want You to Want Me” and became actively involved during the performance. Since the music was loud and everyone was outside, it was not considered unethical to talk during the performance. I was surprised at how well

I felt when I was in the crowd. Lots of the drunken adults that were talking to me treated me as an equal instead of as some punk college student. Everyone was able to come together because of their appreciation for the sound in the music.

The band Cheap Trick consists of Rick Nielson as the vocals and lead guitar, Bun

Carlos on the drums, Rob Zander on the rhythm guitar and vocals, and Tom Petersson on the bass guitar. They had a fairly diverse clothing style, but it remained with their central image. The central image that the band tries to portray is ironies on the music industry by saying all they need to make great hits are “cheap tricks”. This was in response to the formulas created by “corporate rock”, so they had a more unique sound than most of that generation. Tom Petersson for instance was wearing a blue suit throughout the performance while Rob Zander wore a sleeveless shirt and tight leather pants.

Petersson’s clothing style was representation of the pop influence in music, which can be taken from the Beatle’s style of dress in matching suits. He tried to appear less

“threatening” than the other band mates. Rob Zander’s clothes are traced to “cock rock”

Toton 3 with his long and wild hair and the tight clothes, which exemplified his masculinity by using feminine style.

The image of the band consisted of them being motley and diverse. This was brought out by their dress and the way they acted on the stage. Neilson was seen as the rebel of the group while Petersson was the “pretty boy”. Zander filled the role of the ladies man with his tight clothing and sexual dance moves that he used to add emphasis to certain words in songs. Their different images allowed them to appeal to a wider audience and kept them interesting because no member was doing the same thing as another.

Many of the people in the audience that had seen the band play before in bars and in concert frequently mentioned that they liked the way the band played and looked more than the actual songs themselves. The image the band created with the tight leather pants over the top sexuality and good looks made the band popular among many of the fans I talked to. Rather than listening to the songs the fans found interest in the way the band looked and just wanted to watch them perform. Often the lyrics of the songs were inaudible, but the way the band was able to work the crowd and stage made the concert successful for the audience.

During the performance, the band used a rock power fist and rocker horns when they played heavier music during guitar solos. Neilson worked the crowd the most by playing all over the stage and moving around a lot. Zander’s mostly stayed stationary in the center of the stage and sang into the microphone, but Neilson was often moving about. During his virtuosic guitar solos, he stuck his tongue out and waved his hands as he built anticipation and energy into the crowd. This played well into the performance

Toton 4 atmosphere that was created from the many large speakers, big projection screen, and amplifiers. The screen was used to help people in the back of the crowd see the stage if they were in a bad position, and the amplifiers created a vibration into the crowd that let the fans feel the music.

The band used many pop sounding lyrics with hooks while playing heavy virtuosic guitar rifts and power chords. Even though I was unfamiliar with the majority of the songs, before a song ended I was more than able to repeat the chorus and refrains from the songs. The simple melodies and beat create a sense of rhythm that allowed the song to flow smoothly and evenly. Guitar solos were exemplified during the song by the use of the stage lighting. As Neilson hit major chords the stage often used strobe lights to create more of the mystery and professionalism of his sound. For the most part though, the entire stage was lit up so that all the performers could be seen as a whole. These effects were coordinated to the timing of the lyrics and added emphasis to a verse when the band played a song with the AABA pattern.

The band was part of the new wave band generation of the late 1970s, but also contained a punk flare in their performance style. The new wave was clear from the numerous references to previous generation music. The melodies of the pop sounds were strikingly similar to the Beatles, and even contained the hand clap to start off some of their songs. They possessed a slight punk feel to their music during the power cords of

Neilson. He was moving all over the stage so much he seemed like a maniac at times.

Though the lyrics were not angry and full of rage, the type of performance art that coincided with many punk bands was evident in Neilson’s performance.

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There was little dancing during the show amongst the audience. The band's overall sound played was an extremely simple beat that would allow the fans to bop their knees and occasionally clap their hands to the song. It was also very difficult to dance because of the lack of space from person to person. Everyone was standing the whole time and became energized by the performance. While there was a lack of energy to move around in the crowd, energy still existed from cheering and raising beer glasses.

Analysis and Interpretation

The main function of the performance was to excite fans about the race and provide entertainment for the audience. The city of Charlotte benefits greatly from the tourism that the Coca-Cola 600 brings to the city, and by providing a weekend jam packed with concerts and activities they can increase profits. By booking a well known band among the most common age group of race fans, the people are more likely to come to the event and spend money. While amongst the crowd I met a few couples from as far as Chicago and New York that came down. If a band that did not please their tastes were playing, they would be more likely to only come down to visit on the actual day of the race, or spend time elsewhere until race day. Cheap Trick’s performance was used to draw the masses to the city of Charlotte through fun and family oriented entertainment.

The lyrics to the music lacked real meaning that can be found in folk music and did not contain anger and rage like punk music. The lyrics were melodically and simple.

They did contain a sampling of punk music though through their instrumentation, but their pop vocals helped to ease their image and avoid a total punk label. The main purpose of the band was simply to entertain the crowd, which they were able to do with

Toton 6 their pop hooks. When they played “Dream Police” the crowd became extremely excited and loved to sing along with the band. The actual songs were ludicrous and lacked logical sense, but they had catchy hooks that made the audience sing along and enjoy the show.

The race culture that Cheap Trick was playing to was able to enjoy the simple melodies of the band and the active performance by the members. Without the performance, the race would not be as well known or advertised. Rather than just having the race in isolation, it is just another part of a larger spectacle. The band and local venues help to advertise the race and keeps the interest thriving. The audience the band was playing to was not looking to dance, they just wanted to listen to the show and drink beer while socializing with a few friends. The organization of the venders funneled peopled first through beer and food stands before the actual band could be reached to advertise the event. Because of the loud speaker system, the band could even be heard on the far end of the street where many adults had set up chairs to enjoy the concert. The walk to the stage built anticipation as the music becomes louder and the cheers from the fans become audible.

A common attribute associated among NASCAR fans is the beer belly, and since

Cheap Trick does not play songs that many would dance to, it was easy for the audience to “sit back” and listen to the music. Instead of playing a more complicated beat that is heard in dance clubs, their more laid back melodies and power guitar chords allowed the audience to take in the music and watch the performance similarly to watching a movie.

Dancing would require more energy and body coordination, which many in the audience lacked from their drinking. The fans just wanted to relax and enjoy the show without

Toton 7 becoming too involved. However, the band incorporated the audience into the show by playing pop hooks that people knew and encouraging the audience to join in the show.

This added to the entertainment value of the show and made it easier to become encapsulated in the performance.

Cheap Trick aided in contributing to the drunken redneck audience by using their image. At one point during the performance Zander expressed his need for a beer, in which the crowd responded with cheers of delight. The image of Cheap Trick was the punk image where they just play music because they enjoy it and are not trying to make money off it. This image was positively received from the audience because it created a sense of “authenticity” from the band. It helped to separate them from other possible acts that could have also been chosen to perform.

The instrumentation lacked a piano that was consistent with 1960s style rock and focused mostly on the guitars and drums to provide the beat and melodies. At one point

Neilson used a five neck guitar, which amazed and wow the crowd as he was able to use reverb and picking to create unique sounds. From a distance it appeared to just be an optical illusion because of the flashing lights. However, when the lights stopped flashing and everyone was able to realize the guitar did in fact have five necks it was able to add to his crazy man image and energized the crowd. Tom Petersson’s twelve string bass blasted through the crowd with the aid of the speakers and sent shockwaves of vibration to everyone. This part amused the crowd and kept the fans happy. The lead vocalist did the least amount of maneuvering on the stage and was used to stabilize the music. His role in the performance remained on helping to form a melody and keep interest in the song.

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There was a huge lack of emphasis on the drummer Bun Carlos. He sat well in the back in the dark with absolutely no lights on him until he started playing a drum solo.

The lights helped keep the audiences attention on the skill of the guitar and bass players.

It concentrated the performance to the members of the band that could move around and entertain the crowd through their actions. The drum player does not have as much freedom to move around since he has to maintain the beat throughout the song.

The sponsors of the event chose a band like Cheap Trick to play a concert for them because they are a relatively safe band. Their punk-pop fusion could grasp a larger audience, and they were a family friendly band. A few songs they played had double meanings relating to sex, but they were masked by the lyrics so parents would not have to be afraid if their kids heard the song. The hard sounds kept the audience enthusiastic about the performance while the pop hooks made it possible for the crowd to become incorporated into the show by being able to sing along.

Cheap Trick played to what their audience wanted. The audience wanted to listen to popular music and drink beers. The performance created excitement from the instrumentation and used pop hooks to add to the irony of the bands image of what a popular band should look and sound like. A family oriented performance was created and it was also able to target the main group of thirty and forty year olds that came to see the band.

Conclusion

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I found the image and musical talents of the band to be the most interesting aspect of the show. Between all of members sporting a different image and how they used their image to “work” the crowd. The wide array of instrumentation was very impressive, and the amplifiers and speakers only enhanced the sound and experience. Watching them play a five neck guitar was amazing while the sound production of the twelve string bass was huge. While the vocals were not particularly interesting, they did manage to keep the songs moving along and give chances for the band to get the crowd to sing along.