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Cheap Trick set to enthrall St. Cloud
Paramount Theatre is ready to take on late-1970s rock legends Cheap Trick, as they are set to show St. Cloud and its college students a kind of Top 40 rock people have never seen.
By Emily Pryor
On Sept. 25, Downtown St. Cloud’s Paramount Theatre will present legends Cheap Trick, a popular band from Rockford, Ill.
Along with the Paramount, which is the smallest venue on the tour, Cheap Trick will stop at Columbus, Ohio, Jackson, Mich. and Anaheim, Calif.
“This is the start of a trend for Paramount to have all kinds of big concerts,” said Millward Simpson of the Paramount Theatre. He also mentioned that the Paramount would like to bring in more of a crowd from the college areas.
Jan Ross of the Paramount ticket office said so far, ticket sales are steady.
“The main floor is pretty much filled,” she said, “but they’ll open up the balcony if necessary.”
Cheap Trick has four platinum albums, a number-one single, and seven other Top 40 hits. They have also created original soundtrack songs for numerous films, including “American Gladiator,’” “Heavy Metal,” “Roadie,” “Encino Man,” “Caddyshack II,” “Up the Creek,” “Spring Break” and “Say Anything.”
“This will be the biggest rock concert in the history of downtown St. Cloud,” Simpson said.
According to Simpson, Cheap Trick is the king of power pop.
“They’re really fun, with a lot of character and distinct personality,” he said.
Lead guitar player Rick Neilson is known for his famous five-neck guitar, as well as other artistic-looking guitars, such as “Doctor,” designed by artist Andre Miripolsky. “Doctor” was influenced by the artwork on the “Doctor” album.
Other known guitars are the Gibson “Flag Guitar,” shaped like the U.S. and colored in patriotic colors, and the “Flying Vee Checkerboard” guitar, which was featured in an issue of Rolling Stone Magazine in 1979.
Cheap Trick’s first album, recorded in 1977, “Cheap Trick,” offers songs about suicide, mass murders, a gigolo, and a pedophile. Though the album received rave reviews, it didn’t go as well as planned.
“At Budokan,” recorded in 1979, gave them their biggest breakthrough in the U.S. Staying popular for over a year, it sold over three million copies, making “I Want You to Want Me” their first top ten hit.
Later they released “Dream Police,” which also made the Top Ten list, having two top 40 singles, “Voices” and “Dream Police.” In 1980, they released an EP of tracks from 1976-1979 named “Found All the Parts.”
In 1994, Cheap Trick recorded a sequel to “At Budokan,” called “Budokan II.” It was made up of the same shows as the first album and proved to both the band and the fans why they were so popular in the late 1970s.
The Box Office is open Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tickets are $29. Call the ticket line at 259-LINE.
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