Cheap Trick to perform Sept. 22 at Sand Mountain Park and Amphitheater

The Sand Mountain Park and Amphitheater in Albertville has landed a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame act for its 2023 concert schedule.

Power pop legends Cheap Trick will perform Sept. 22 at the venue. Tickets go on sale to the public at 10 a.m. Friday. (Pre-sales begin Wednesday for Cheap Trick Fan Club and SMPA Premier members, and Thursday for SMPA Fan Club members. Passwords are required)

Cheap Trick — lead guitarist Rick Nielsen, vocalist/rhythm guitarist Robin Zander, bassist Tom Petersson (all original members) and drummer Daxx Nielsen — have performed more than 5,000 live shows since they formed 50 years ago in Rockford, Illinois.

Stephen Thomas Erlewine in the band’s entry on AllMusic.com described their sound as “(combining) a love for British guitar pop songcraft with crunching power chords and a flair for the absurd,” mixing “loud riffs and catchy melodies,” and linking “'60s pop, heavy metal and punk.”

Cheap Trick has released 20 studio and seven live albums over five different decades, starting with their self-titled 1977 debut and continuing to 2021’s “In Another World,” which showed the group’s continued vitality by reaching No. 2 on Billboard’s Tastemaker Albums chart, No. 7 on the Album Sales chart, No. 22 on the Rock Albums chart and No. 24 on the Independent Albums chart.

Their album sales total 20 million, and they’ve had five platinum and two gold albums.

However, their high point came in the late 1970s. “Cheap Trick at Budokan,” recorded in concert in Japan, reached No. 4 on the Billboard Top 200 albums chart in 1978 and achieved triple platinum status in sales.

It was added to the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry in 2019 as being “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant,” and is No. 426 n Rolling Stone magazine’s rankings of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

“I Want You to Want Me” from the album reached No. 7 and a cover of Fats Domino’s “Ain’t That a Shame” No. 35 on the singles chart.

“Dream Police” followed a year later, reaching No. 6 on the Top 200 albums chart and achieving platinum status; the title song hit No. 26 on the singles chart.

Cheap Trick was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2016,

Visit https://bit.ly/3GU1erL to purchase tickets.

Ticket prices are $199 for VIP level (includes along with a premium reserved seat, a Cheap Trick drumhead, dice set, lighter, commemorative tour laminate and “Dream Police” patch); $79 for premium, $64 for reserved; $49 for reserved 2 and $25 for early bird lawn.

This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: Cheap Trick to play at Sand Mountain Park and Ampitheater