Cheap Trick - Live on Don Kirshner's Rock Concert, November 10, 1977

Buckle up for a raucous blast from the past with Cheap Trick’s incendiary live performance on Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert, filmed November 10, 1977, in Los Angeles—a raw, unpolished gem that captures the band at their hungriest. These Rockford renegades storm the stage like a gang of musical outlaws, delivering a set that’s less a concert and more a declaration of war on the disco-drenched ‘70s. With Robin Zander’s golden pipes, Rick Nielsen’s guitar heroics, and Bun E. Carlos’ drum-pounding fury, this is Cheap Trick before Budokan made them legends, serving up power pop with a punk sneer and a classic rock swagger. It’s the kind of performance that makes you want to ditch your desk job and start a revolution.

The setlist, a lean mean rock machine, runs: Hello There, Come On, Come On, Elo Kiddies, Southern Girls, Downed, Clock Strikes Ten, and Goodnight. Each track hits like a sledgehammer, with Elo Kiddies taking a jab at conformity and Southern Girls oozing charm sharper than a switchblade. Anecdotes? Oh, they’re juicy. This was one of the band’s earliest TV appearances, introduced by Don Kirshner’s son, Ricky, which left a mark on fans like a 14-year-old kid in Flushing, NY, who saw it air and begged his mom for a drum set. The footage, dug up from an eBay tape lot, is shockingly pristine for second- or third-gen stock, a testament to analog grit. And keep your eyes peeled for Bun E. Carlos wielding comically oversized drumsticks in Goodnight—a cheeky nod to the band’s flair for showmanship that’d make P.T. Barnum jealous.

Shot when Surrender and I Want You to Want Me were still months from their Budokan glory, this performance proves Cheap Trick was already a force of nature. It’s raw, it’s real, and it’s a middle finger to the polyester era. Crank it up, and let the neighbors complain.