Cheap Trick still has a few up the sleeve

Cheap Trick

After more than 40 years together in one form or another, the members of Cheap Trick know they're among the fortunate few to have survived the vagaries of rock and roll.

"When we started back in the '60s, rock and roll wasn't a logical career for someone. ... It still isn't," says bassist Tom Petersson. "Most people don't make it -- doesn't matter how good you are. We got very lucky. We never had a plan B. It's like a hobby gone very well."

As far as hobbies go, Cheap Trick's career is more than a little impressive. Arguably the most underrated American band -- their first four albums alone place them in the pantheon of all-time greats -- bassist Petersson, guitarist Rick Nielsen and singer Robin Zander have managed to keep their musical horizons ever changing.

Just this year, the group has done a long stand in Las Vegas playing the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, barnstormed Austin's South by Southwest music festival, laying waste to a thousand younger, hipper acts; and toured tirelessly in support of its recent CD, The Latest.

More important, Cheap Trick remains one of the best live bands around, sounding as fresh and vital as ever. "It feels that way to us too," says Zander. "It's an inspiration

to ourselves that we've been around this long and are writing music and making music that we're excited by. We genuinely appreciate what we do, and I think that shows when you see us play."

For local fans, that opportunity will come tonight as Cheap Trick co-headlines the final night of the Memphis Botanic Garden's summer concert series, along with new-wave hitmakers Blondie.

The band's current tour with Blondie follows other high-profile pairings with a wide range of acts from popsters Squeeze to hard rockers Aerosmith.

Although Cheap Trick has a rich reservoir of songs to choose from its nearly 20 albums, for many casual fans, it's the band's hits that still register -- and the group never fails to oblige.

"People ask me all the time, 'Don't you get tired of singing "I Want You to Want Me"' or 'Isn't it sickening to have to do "Surrender" every night?'" says Zander, with a laugh.

"But the truth is, I'm proud of those songs. And even though we've probably done them in every set since their conception, the audience still appreciates it. If we didn't do them, I feel like we'd be dishonoring our audience."

And yet, more than most "classic rock" bands, Cheap Trick also attracts a pool of music-geek obsessives, the kind who know every crevice and corner of the band's catalog, which makes coming up with a set list a unique challenge.

"If you do all hits, some people would love it, and some would hate it. Same thing if you did all obscure songs. People would stand there and give you the finger 'cause they want to hear 'The Flame'," laughs Petersson. "We just kind of do what we think is appropriate and what we like and throw in a few odd things too. You can't please everybody, so you might as well do whatever the hell you want."

While consistency has been the hallmark of the band, a major change came earlier this year with longtime drummer Bun E. Carlos' decision to take a break from touring. Carlos is still officially with the band, but taking his place on stage is Nielsen's son, Daxx.

For Petersson, it's been a smooth transition. "He's got the feel; he knows the songs. He's energetic, he's having fun, and we're having fun. I can't say enough about him," notes Petersson of Daxx, who had subbed for Carlos earlier in the decade after the drummer underwent back surgery.

Given the band's hectic live schedule, it would seem hard to find time to write and record new material, but Zander reports that the group is already well on its way to crafting a follow-up to 2009's The Latest.

"Just a couple days ago, Tom and Rick flew in to (Los Angeles), where I have a house," says Zander. "We wrote 10 songs in one day. We had bits and pieces of stuff, of course. But if you do that two or three times, you have 20 to 25 songs to pick from. That's sort of how we come up with a new record."

Zander adds that some previously unreleased Cheap Trick songs will be debuted as part of a multimedia comic book project he's working on with Memphis-based artists Matt and Tim Bowers.

"The comic will be out before Christmas," says Zander. "A book will follow, and after that, we're gonna do an online comic with a soundtrack, which will include the unheard Cheap Trick songs."

In the meantime, Cheap Trick will likely be on the road somewhere playing. "We have to. We aren't successful enough to just retire, or quit. And it works in our favor that way," says Petersson.

"We're not the Rolling Stones or U2 or whoever is just mega and riding around in Lear jets. We're lucky because we're able to tour and we've built a name for ourselves. We work all the time, and we're a lot better for it."

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Cheap Trick and Blondie

8:30 p.m. tonight at the Memphis Botanic Garden, 750 Cherry. Tickets are $49.75 and available at all Ticketmaster outlets, at ticketmaster.com or (800) 745-3000.

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