Cheap Trick • May 19, 2025 • Red Butte Garden Amphitheater
Reviewed and Photographed by Kevin Rolfe
It’s hard to believe, but it’s once again that time of year. The Red Butte Outdoor Concert Series has officially begun! Concerts at Red Butte have been a highlight of my Utah summers long before I ever began reviewing concerts. The location is amazing, the lineup is without fail some of the best artists in music. One of my favorite things about heading up to a Red Butte show is that no matter how hot it is in the Salt Lake Valley, you can head up to Red Butte Garden for a concert and it’ll definitely be cooler. In fact, you may just need a sweatshirt and blanket by show’s end.
Opening night at Red Butte Garden Amphitheater may have taken this to a bit of an extreme though. May can be an unusual month as far as the weather goes. It can be really warm one day and raining or snowing the next. While the skies stayed dry, temperatures were not as kind. It was a cold one. With temps getting into the low 40° range, it’s a good thing we had Cheap Trick to warm us up!
Despite the brisk conditions, fans turned out to see one of America’s greatest rock bands. Known by many as “Your favorite band’s favorite band”, Cheap Trick brought all the great songs to the garden. With no opener, we were ready to rock with the guys right away. I enjoy seeing opening bands, but sometimes it’s really fun to just get right into it with the headliner. With the sun still setting, Robin Zander, Rick Nielson, and Tom Petersson took the stage. If anyone thought this was going to be a relaxing sit-down show, they were quickly mistaken. Joined on stage, playing the drums was Daxx Nielsen. Does the last name look familiar? The band got into it right away opening with the appropriately named, “Hello There”.
The crowd did their best. They were clearly cold. Various pockets stuck around and bundled up. Other groups just went for it. They didn’t care if it was 10° or 99°. I saw some fans in short-sleeved shirts. Many hoping to show their now vintage Cheap Trick tour shirts. What I loved to see was not just the fans who have clearly been dedicated since the band’s early years, but those who have found Cheap Trick more recently. I saw a bunch of really young people singing every word to almost every song. You’d expect them to know the hits, but seeing them sing songs true fans know was impressive.
The time came when Cheap Trick unleashed a barrage of their biggest hits. After a strong rendition of “The Flame”, Robin Zander called out to the audience his classic phrase, “I Want You to Want Me”’. The audience roared. This is one of those songs that you just have to experience live. For a moment no one seemed cold. People were dancing to the song and singing to one another and when the time came, we all sang along with Robin. It was a perfect Red Butte moment. I thought that this would be the last song of their main set. But I was happy to be wrong.
“Dream Police” was a perfect closer before the encore. The band moved around the stage playing to the crowd. Throughout the show, Rick Nielson would throw out guitar picks to adoring fans. But a moment came when he walked back to the side stage and then back to the front of the stage with a handful of picks. He threw them out into the crowd and people rushed to claim a pick for themselves. The smiles on the faces of those who actually got one were pretty great.
Cheap Trick returned after a short encore break. I wouldn’t have blamed them if they had just stayed backstage. But they were dedicated to giving us a full show. I’m glad they did because I was so excited to hear “Surrender” live. I really enjoy that song. And it’s even better live. The show ended with “Goodnight”. A song as appropriately named as the opening song.
After visiting Utah for three straight years from 2016-2018, Cheap Trick hadn’t been back to Utah until now. It was clear by the way the audience reacted to this show that their return was long overdue. I hope they return soon. Hopefully, we’ll give them warmer weather next time.
