Cheap Trick: Are You Ready-12/31/1979

Huge Thanks to Mr. John Snow who kindly shared a copy of this Trick album! What better way to celebrate New Year’s Eve 2019 with a Cheap Trick show from exactly 40 years ago tonight!

Crazy! Let’s do this!

So what we have here is a limited to 3500 vinyl pressing of Cheap Trick playing to the masses on New Years Eve 1979 to a sold-out crowd in Los Angeles California.

Cheap Trick could do no wrong back in the late ’70s. A huge band at the time due to the excellent live Budokan release (1978) which led right into the fantastic Dream Police release in 1979.

This album make no bones about is a killer show. Check out the setlist below. Man oh, Man! What a concert! There’s Gold in them tracks!

This my friends is a  live show that was not tweaked in the studio 

Side A:
1. Hello There
2. Clock Strikes Ten
3. I’ll Be With You Tonight
4. Ain’t That A Shame
5. California Man
6. Downed

Side B:
1. On Top Of The World
2. Gonna Raise Hell
3. Heaven Tonight

Side C:
1. Stiff Competition
2. Voices
3. Way Of The World
4. Need Your Love
5. I Know What I Want

Side D:
1. I Want You To Want Me
2. Surrender
3. Auld Lang Syne
4. Goodnight Now
5. The House Is Rockin’ (With Domestic Problems)
6. Dream Police

20 Songs as the Trick delivers it on all angles! Bun E/Robin/Rick and Tom are firing on all four cylinders on this album. You can at times hear Robins voice strain which makes this show authentic as in no studio touch-ups fix-ups like so many did in the ’70s (Take a bow Gene and Paul).

The first four songs on this release (Hello There/Clock Strikes 10/I’ll Be With You Tonight/Aint That A Shame) sound almost bootleg like but by the time California Man is played the sound issues of the previous 4 tracks are straightened out.

I like the fact that its the full show so you get the 9-minute versions of Need Your Love and Gonna Raise Hell. (where Tom goes bonkers on his 12 string Hamer Bass at the beginning).

Cheap Trick on this tour was aided by a keyboardist on the Dream Police material but make no mistake as the guitars of Robin and Rick (especially) are not drowned out by the keys!

What is really cool is that Cheap Trick went digging in the vaults for this show and many other bands could take the Tricksters lead. (Hello Gene and Paul)

This is one fantastic release and I haven’t stopped listening to it since I received it from John!  Once again. Thank you, Sir!

Just a little side note. iTunes has this album so I’m sure other streaming sites do as well.

Check this one out! You shall not be disappointed!

LIVE IS LIVE!

HAPPY NEW YEAR FOLK’S!