It’s always a spectacular day when I get to meet a member of one of the Big 7 bands, even if I had already met them before. In this case, I had once actually met the entire band Cheap Trick way back in 1992, and even had them all sign my CD of Dream Police. I had gotten multiple autographs of guitarist Rick Nielsen, and lead singer Robin Zander had scrawled his signature on a piece of Cheap Trick artwork that I had made in art class an brought along to hold up during the show. The entire experience was spectacular, and had I been able to actually locate the photos I took (fingers crossed that they will eventually turn up among my junkpile…er, archives), you’ll hear much more about the whole experience.
But fast forwarding 21 years, after many additional Cheap Trick concerts with no further personal encounters, lead singer Robin Zander made an appearance at the Chiller Theatre show on April 27, 2013. Of the four band members, he was actually the only one I had gotten a photo with during my first encounter, albeit a candid with my back facing the camera as he signed for me.
With his autograph already in my collection, all I really wanted at this point was a nice photo of us posing for the camera. It took me exactly $30 to get it. Even though it had been 35 years since Cheap Trick was in their heyday, not to mention the resurgence of their popularity in the late 80’s when The Flame charted, I was very surprised that Robin had no fans at his table when I approached him. I think he was a bit disillusioned too, and was therefore getting ready to take a break.
This didn’t bode well for our encounter, as it felt extremely rushed and even at that, I had to wait a couple of minutes after I paid my fee to wait for him to stop to talking to someone at a neighboring table. I’m not sure exactly what I would have said had we had more time, as it’s is sometimes hard to believe that the person standing next to you is the same guy who possesses the vocal chords that you’ve had playing in your eardrums and repeating in your brain for 25 years.
So regardless of our lack of connection, I am still very pleased to present my photo with Robin Zander, lead singer of Cheap Trick, one of the best bands in the entire world.
Celebrity encounters from the Spring 2013 Chiller Theatre will continue…
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