Cheap Trick

The following decades brought both creative highs and commercial fluctuations. The following decade was filled with creative and commercial ups and downs, though they did find commercial success with 1988's Lap of Luxury and its hit single "The Flame." After leaving the major labels behind with 1997's self-titled Cheap Trick, the band enjoyed a creative second wind, reaffirming the strength of their formula on-stage and in the studio as evidenced on 2006's Rockford and 2016's Bang, Zoom, Crazy... Hello. Along the way the band continued to tour relentlessly, and by their own count have continued releasing new music into the 21st century and maintain a constant touring schedule, having performed live more than 5,000 times since their formation, and have sold more than 20 million albums. Their long-overdue recognition came in 2016, when the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Cheap Trick remains active into their sixth decade, still built around the core trio of Rick Nielsen, Robin Zander, and Tom Petersson, with Nielsen's son Daxx now behind the drum kit. Their influence has been cited by a diverse range of rock artists from both the mainstream and underground, and the band's blend of power pop hooks and hard rock swagger has made them a touchstone for generations of guitar bands that followed. Songs like "Surrender," "I Want You to Want Me," and "Dream Police" remain staples of classic rock radio, and the band's reputation as one of rock's great live acts, forged at the Budokan, has only grown over time.

That reputation as a formidable live act is part of what drew Wayne Dennon's lens to Cheap Trick, whom he photographed at one show in 2005. Twenty five of his photographs of the band are preserved in this archive, images that have been viewed more than 20,000 times by visitors drawn to relive a night of pure rock and roll energy. As with so much of Wayne's work, these photographs stand as a quiet testament to a band that never stopped touring, and to a photographer who was there to capture it.