Cheap Trick Revives ‘Budokan’

For the most part, concert albums only hammer home the notion that you had to be there to fully appreciate the show. Cheap Trick’s 1978 classic, “At Budokan,” remains a glowing exception. As catchy and compelling as the Rockford, Ill., quartet’s studio work was, the raw energy coursing through the Budokan recordings made for transcendent music; an electrifying collision between sublime pop and smoldering, gritty rock.

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of “At Budokan,” a remastered, reconstructed recording of the entire performance was assembled, and the band decided to re-create that memorable set for audiences in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. Cheap Trick didn’t disappoint a packed house at the Roxy on Monday, starting off with the enthusiastic “Hello There” and building momentum throughout the evening. Predictably, power-pop opuses such as “I Want You to Want Me” and “Surrender” drew big crowd responses, but the group also demonstrated why it continues to inspire hard rockers as well as power popsters with doses of raucous jamming that ranged from down-to-earth and bluesy to soaring, epic rock.

Cheap Trick’s latter-day studio albums haven’t maintained the zest of old, but on stage the magic is still there. With “At Budokan: The Complete Concert” on record store shelves, you certainly didn’t have to be at the Roxy to bask in that live vibe--but it sure was nice.