I read the news today… Oh, boy!
Not to entirely pilfer The Beatles catalog of words, but the news of Cheap Trick coming to Naperville’s Last Fling did bring me back to “a day in the life.”
The day I started to reminisce over was the last time I saw Cheap Trick. It was Feb. 1, 1981, at Chicago’s Granada Theater. I was a 12-year old concert veteran at that point, and many of the concerts from that time period are a bit fuzzy in my 49-year old head, but not that one. If the gorgeous theater was still standing today, I could probably show you where my seat was.
I remember the giant eyeball that hung in the back of the stage and the red spotlight it had as its pupil. I remember their entire road crew dancing around the stage in masks while the band played their song “Gonna Raise Hell.” I remember their last song being a cover of AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell.” But, the most important thing I remember from that night is how I felt after the show. I knew that rock and roll could be fun and silly. It could be loud and expressive without any boundaries. I knew I wanted to feel that way again, and it was soon after that I made a commitment to forever have rock and roll in my life.
Almost 37 years after Cheap Trick introduced me to fun rock and roll, they are set to bring that very same fun to the Naperville Jaycees Last Fling on Sept. 2. So, to lift a lyric from one of Cheap Trick’s biggest hits, I think it’s time to “shine up the old brown shoes” and party like it’s 1981 again.
For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.eventsprout.com/event/2018lastfling-sunday.
