This has been some year for the classic rock band Cheap Trick, known for hits including “Dream Police” and “I Want You to Want Me.” Earlier this year, the band members narrowly escaped injury when they left a stage in Ottawa, Canada, just moments before it collapsed during a wind gust that was reportedly more than 90 mph. The band has been lobbying Congress to enact regulations to prevent such collapses and also has turned to its own music venue visions. The band has just announced it will undertake a huge project in a space members see as “the future Music Row in Chicago” with a one-of-a-kind eatery, unique musical instrument museum, radio station, performance space and more. Whatever shape it takes, it seems decor won’t be a problem.
“Rick [Nielsen] had 250 guitars, but 47 of them were crushed in Ottawa. We’re working on restoration and we’re still recovering from that,” David Frey, the band’s manager, told the Chicago Sun-Times. “His guitar collection is unique as is Bun E. [Carlos’ drum collection]. He has parade drums from the 1800s. We’d maybe hang those from the ceiling, we have a lot of ideas.”
| Onstage |
| Cheap Trick |
| When: 8 p.m. Saturday |
| Where: The Fillmore Silver Spring, 8656 Colesville Road, Silver Spring |
| Info: $40 to $75; 301-960-9999, filmoresilverspring.com; ticketmaster.com |
Indeed, the Music Row complex in the band’s home state of Illinois is only the latest of many “ideas” the band has had since it started. Long a model for many other rockers and alt-rockers, Cheap Trick has always been known for its musical innovation. The guitarist Slash is one of many rock icons who credit Cheap Trick with inspiring them.
“Everyone has a great Cheap Trick story. If you only have one, it’s good enough,” the band’s guitarist, Nielsen, told Spinner. “I mean some people have 50, but everybody seems to have one good one, like hooking up or shacking up or getting pregnant listening to our music and ‘then we got married,’ or ‘We were on this boat together and your song was playing.’ We’ve had people in the hospital playing Cheap Trick music and they woke up out of a coma. I was like, ‘Wow.’ It’s not, ‘I heard your stuff and it made me sick!’ ”
Such kudos can take comical turns, said Nielsen in recalling a meeting with the chef Anthony Bourdain.
“I was waiting to say hello to him and all of a sudden he comes out of this restaurant and says, ‘Hey, you guys were the sound track to my life!’ ” Nielsen said. “We were gonna see each other later that night and then he ended up going back to his hotel room and I just stayed home. You can’t buy that — the cool factor is up there.”
Lucky for the D.C. area, Cheap Trick’s own “cool factor” will be in full view soon on a local stage.
