ALLENTOWN, Pennsylvania – Let’s start with an assumption.
Few, if any, of the mostly older crowd in the stands on opening night of the Allentown Fair — or waiting 40 minutes as a storm swept through the fair and delayed the show (more on that later) — were looking for surprises or musical nuances from two bands whose last hits came in the 1980s.
It is safe to say that they have come to indulge in nostalgia and try to relive some of their youth.
So if the voice of Cheap Trick singer Robin Zander – or, to a lesser extent, that of the two singers of Blue Öyster Cult – could no longer quite keep up with that of 40 years ago, it was no big deal.
John J. Moser
/
LehighValleyLive.com
Or when Zander’s son, Robin Taylor Zander, sang “Downed” in his father’s place (and did it pretty well), or when Daxx Nelson, the son of Cheap Trick guitarist Rick Nielsen who replaced original drummer Bun E. Carlos, played a minute-long drum solo, it was no big deal to the audience either.
The audience was there to hear the hits of their younger years and, for the most part, got what they wanted.
A quick note on the storm: After Blue Öyster Cult’s opening set, the fair announced over its PA system that a thunderstorm was approaching and asked visitors to seek shelter for 30 minutes. (Lightning could be seen in the distance.)
In fact, the delay lasted about 40 minutes, during which most of the crowd of less than 5,000 spectators sought shelter in the stands.
One more note: The smaller audience could be due to the fact that the Cheap Trick/Blue Öyster Cult show came together quickly after ’70s rockers Heart postponed their show.
John J. Moser
/
LehighValleyNews.com
Keeping the flame alive
Cheap Trick, featuring Zander in sparkly silver pants and a straw top hat, won over the crowd immediately by opening their 15-song, 90-minute set with one of their bigger hits, “Dream Police,” and it was done well.
Perhaps the delay was due to the band struggling through the first five songs, starting with 1980’s “Just Got Back” and “Big Eyes” from the 1979 Live at Budokan album, which put the band at the top.
The latter song was the first to reveal the inhibition in Zander’s voice, but after playing through “Out in the Street,” the theme song from the early 2000s sitcom That ’70s Show, Zander launched into “Need Your Love” in falsetto.
After the aforementioned drum solo and a guitar solo by Nielsen, the band played another hit: their 1979 cover of Fats Domino’s “Ain’t That a Shame,” with Nielsen on slide guitar.
John J. Moser
/
LehighValleyNews.com
This song and others throughout the evening seemed to rock harder than the original versions, as Cheap Trick presented them in a lighthearted new wave style. Occasionally, it still found that vibe, such as on a fun and irreverent “She’s Tight,” although Zander’s voice again seemed weaker.
A few surprises during the evening: The new song “Light Up the Fire” from the latest album “In Another World” was good and the crowd seemed to like it.
And Robin Taylor Zander’s performance in “Downed” sounded very much like the young version of his father and also captured the old energy.
The same goes for “I Know What I Want,” which featured bassist Tom Petersson as vocalist.
The highlight of the set was Cheap Trick’s biggest hit, 1988’s “The Flame”, which opened with a snippet of “It All Comes Back to You” which was very beautiful and set the stage.
This was perhaps the song where Zander’s vocals were the least convincing, but it was also the song where he seemed the most committed and delivered an emotional performance.
The main act ended with Cheap Trick’s 1979 gold hit “I Want You to Want Me,” which gave the crowd exactly what they craved.
The encore began with the song that started it all for Cheap Trick – “Surrender” from 1978, and the audience liked it too. The band ended the concert with their usual farewell song “Good Night”.
But even though Cheap Trick seemed to know what the audience wanted, the band left out their second biggest hit – a cover of Elvis’ “Don’t Be Cruel,” which reached the top five in 1988.
John J. Moser
/
LehighValleyNews.com
“The best years are behind us”
Maybe it was because the set was more compact (seven songs in 36 minutes; maybe it was an attempt to escape the storm), but Blue Öyster Cult seemed to be better received.
It began with “Dr. Music,” an upbeat rock song that featured a beautiful solo by guitarist/vocalist Buck Dharma, and was quickly followed by the 1982 double-platinum hit “Burnin’ For You,” to which the crowd responded loudly.
After the deeper cut “ME 262” (which also received great acclaim), the group played “Harvest Moon” – a slower, more reflective cut – just as the sun was setting.
John J. Moser
/
LehighValleyNews.com
Then guitarist Eric Bloom warned the crowd, “I think I hear giant footsteps like that,” and the band launched into their 1978 platinum hit “Godzilla.”
Then they launched into their biggest hit, “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper,” barely missing a note. The six-times platinum hit is now nearly 50 years old, but it’s still a great song, and the band played it well and even expanded it a bit.
And in a nod to the song, a light breeze came up just at the time the lyrics said: “The door was open and the wind came/The candles burned and disappeared/The curtains blew and then he appeared… and said, don’t be afraid.”
But the song that perhaps best captured the evening was Blue Öyster Cult’s second song, “Golden Age of Leather.”
Bloom announced it as a song for “a warm summer night at a rock concert,” and the lyrics “Raise your can of beer high/And seal your fate forever/Our best years are past us” couldn’t have better described what the audience was looking for.
And they seemed to understand and cheered loudly.
