I spent Friday night at the Events Center at Hollywood Casino in Charlestown, West Virginia, enjoying the timeless rock and roll of the legendary Cheap Trick. The band are currently out on tour in support of their 21st and latest album, All Washed Up.
Cheap Trick is a band that still knows exactly what it is. No grand mystery there. Just great songs, a bit of volume, and that oddly perfect mix of grit and polish the Rockford, Illinois boys have carried for decades.
On March 27, the band hit the stage and “Dream Police” opened the set and locked the crowd in early. That riff still cuts through, still carries that slightly off-kilter tension that makes it stick.
From the start, the guitars rang out clean and bright, that unmistakable Cheap Trick sound—part power pop, part straight-ahead rock and roll, all built on hooks that refuse to fade.
Watch the official music video for “Dream Police” by Cheap Trick on YouTube:
Robin Zander’s voice still has that sweet edge to it, clean when it needs to be, rough around the edges in a way that feels honest rather than worn out and he kept things moving briskly. No long speeches. No detours. Making the hard stuff look easy while the focus stayed on the music.
Rick Nielsen kept up his usual animated spark, a kind of rock and roll court jester who also happens to be very, very good at guitar. Tossing picks, switching guitars, and singing background vocals, always keeping the energy from settling. It could’ve easily been routine, but it wasn’t.
Bassist Tom Petersson and drummer Daxx Nielsen gave the whole thing its rhythmic backbone, tight and steady, like a good engine that purrs until somebody floors it.
The sound in the room helped. Clear, balanced, loud enough to feel but not so loud that it swallowed the details. You could pick out guitar lines, hear the texture in the vocals, feel the kick drum without losing everything else.
Cheap Trick has always had that rare ability to feel both polished and scrappy. They can sound radio-ready without losing the grime under their nails.
Their set list for the evening mixed the classics, some deep cuts, and a few curve balls that kept the room sharp.
“ELO Kiddies,” “Stiff Competition,” and “Big Eyes” followed “Dream Police” and the night really took off.
“Heart on the Line” and “Twelve Gates” kept the middle of the set from sagging, which matters more than people think. Cheap Trick have always been a hook band, but live they are also a momentum band. They move like a machine with a loose bolt or two but that looseness gives the songs air.
Covers of “Ain’t That a Shame” and “In the Street” flowed into “High Roller,” “Downed,” and “I Know What I Want,” which gave the show more muscle, then “The Flame” pulled the temperature down just enough to remind everyone that Cheap Trick can still find the soft center without losing their edge. That balance is the trick, no pun intended, and they still pull it off with real style.
And then, of course, “I Want You to Want Me” turned the room into a singalong whether anyone planned for it or not. You could hear it everywhere; front rows, back rows, even the folks who had been half-checked-out near the bar. The singalong continued with “Surrender” and Mommy’s still alright, nearly 50 years later.
Watch Cheap Trick perform “I Want You to Want Me” live from Budokan on YouTube:
For the encore the band kept the energy rolling through “Never Had a Lot to Lose,” “Auf Wiedersehen,” and “Goodnight.” It was a closing stretch that felt generous, not perfunctory, like the band knew exactly how much juice was left in the room and planned to wring out every last drop.
Cheap Trick at the Event Center had that nice old rock-and-roll chemistry where everything felt bigger than the room but still close enough to touch. It was the kind of night that left your ears ringing and your brain humming, which is really all anybody wants from a rock show anyway.
Setlist
1. Dream Police
2. Elo Kiddies
3. Stiff Competition
4. Big Eyes
5. Heart on the Line
6. Twelve Gates
7. Ain’t That a Shame
8. In The Street
9. High Roller
10. Downed
11. I Know What I Want
12. The Flame
13. I Want You to Want Me
14. Surrender
Encore
15. Never Had a Lot to Lose
16. Auf Wiedersehen
17. Goodnight
Here are some photos of Cheap Trick performing live at Hollywood Casino on March 27, 2026. All pictures copyright and courtesy of Michael Sprouse/ Odd Rocker Photography.
Credit: Source link