Rick Nielsen says Cheap Trick doesn’t use backing tracks

Something that was more common with Pop artists is appearing more in the Rock and Roll shows during the past decade, especially due to the age of the musicians who might don’t have the same vocal range they had before. More recently Kiss and Mötley Crüe were two bands that were accused of using backing tracks live to support their live performance. In an interview with Syncin’ Stanley (Transcribed by Blabbermouth), the Cheap Trick guitarist Rick Nielsen talked about bands using that “trick” in their live concerts and said that Cheap Trick doesn’t do that.

Rick Nielsen says Cheap Trick doesn’t use backing tracks

“I think they have songs that they wanna get across and maybe it’s the only way that they can get ’em across, ’cause maybe they fall short with the live versions. This is just a guess. I don’t know. Cheap Trick doesn’t use backing tracks.”

“I don’t know. It’s too bad they have to, but maybe, like I said, there’s tracks that they wanna get across that they don’t do so well on their own, so they use the backing tracks. And lip syncing is tough to do.

“For everyone that complains about it… What’s the percentage of people that don’t complain about it? I don’t really know. So it’s a pretty good question. We don’t personally do it. So that’s what my own thoughts are. It’s no different than having more people on stage with you. Sometimes you do that; sometimes you don’t,” Rick Nielsen said.

Next Cheap Trick tour dates

July

• 27 – Temple Theatre – Saginaw, MI
• 29 – Dragway 42 Music Festival – West Salem, OH

August

• 1 – Ball Arena (Rod Stewart Tour) – Denver, CO
• 4 – Footprint Center (Rod Stewart Tour) – Phoenix, AZ
• 5 – North Island Credit Union Ampitheatre (Rod Stewart Tour) – Chula Vista, CA
• 7 – The Pacific Amphitheatre – Costa Mesa, CA
• 8 – Shoreline Amphitheatre (Rod Stewart Tour) – Mountain View, CA
• 11 – Climate Pledge Arena (Rod Stewart Tour) – Seattle, WA
• 12 – Rogers Arena (Rod Stewart Tour) – Vancouver, Canada
• 15 – Rogers Place (Rod Stewart Tour) – Edmonton, Canada
• 17 – Scotiabank Saddledome (Rod Stewart Tour) – Calgary, Canada
• 19 – Sasktel Centre (Rod Stewart Tour) – Saskatoon, Canada
• 20 – Burton Cummings Theatre – Winnipeg, Canada
• 23 – Canadian Tire Centre (Rod Stewart Tour) – Ottawa, Canada
• 24 – Bell Centre (Rod Stewart Tour) – Montreal, Canada
• 26 – PPG Paints Arena (Rod Stewart Tour) – Pittsburgh, PA
• 28 – Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion (Rod Stewart Tour) – Gilford, NH
• 30 – Hartford HealthCare (Rod Stewart Tour) – Bridgeport, CT

September

• 1 – Bethel Woods (Rod Stewart Tour) – Bethel, NY
• 2 – Community Arts Center – Williamsport, PA
• 7 – Tennessee Soybean Festival – Martin, TN
• 8 – Soundstage at Graceland – Memphis, TN
• 16 – Songs4Soldiers Benefit Concert Featuring Travis Tritt and Cheap Trick – Columbia, IL
• 22 – Sand Mountain Park & Amphitheater RV Park – Albertville, AL
• 23 – Frederick Brown Jr Amphitheater – Peachtree City, GA

October

• 2 – Gillioz Theatre – Springfield, MO
• 3 – Orpheum Theater – Omaha, NE
• 5 – Stiefel Theatre for the Performing Arts – Salina, KS
• 6 – Sioux City Orpheum – Sioux City, IA
• 8 – Pikes Peak Center – Colorado Springs, CO
• 9 – Revel Entertainment Center – Albuquerque, NM
• 11 – Rialto Theatre – Tucson, AZ
• 12 – Pearl Concert Theater at Palms Casino Resort – Las Vegas, NV
• 14 – Pechanga Resort & Casino – Temecula, CA
• 15 – Fox Theater – Bakersfield, CA
• 18 – Warnors Theatre – Fresno, CA
• 19 – Gallo Center For the Arts – Modesto, CA
• 21 – Gold Country Casino and Hotel – Oroville, CA
• 22 – Grand Sierra Resort and Casino – Reno, NV