In the corporate office of Jannus Live, Cheap Trick frontman Robin Zander stretches out with mock relaxation in a gigantic throne-like chair. “I just need some crests on my shoes,” he jokes.
The performer of “Surrender” and “I Want You to Want Me” isn’t at the concert venue to get the royal treatment, but to congratulate Cynthia Mulligan, the winner of a Creative Loafing trivia contest. Her prize: two VIP tickets to see Cheap Trick’s concert on New Year’s Eve at Jannus Live.
Zander is cheery and cordial, with tongue firmly in cheek, like the good Midwesterner he is (he still has the accent to prove it). Wearing a black captain’s hat and slip-on loafers, the 59-year-old rocker has driven from his home in North Pinellas to chat up his band’s upcoming performance of the entire Dream Police album, front to back, plus a slew of their hits, a video presentation, choir and orchestra. It’s a setup befitting the 1979 album’s lush production.
“Dream Police was an ambitious record for us because we never hired symphony players to play on any of our music before that,” Zander says. “We never had opera singers, so it broadened our horizons, and we never reproduced it live like we should have. … The year before, we had done a special stint of Sgt. Pepper for the Hollywood Bowl. So, we decided to try it with Dream Police, and [Jannus] is only the third venue where we’ll be performing it [Milwaukee and Los Angeles were the first two], our first time in the area and probably the only time, so it’s a pretty big deal.”
For the show, the stage will be extended forward and the orchestra is going to sit above the band. The choir will be stationed in the upper right corner above the stage.
“So, when you look at the stage, it’s going to just be Cheap Trick,” Zander says. “But when you look in the clouds, so to speak, it’s going to be this fantastic and bombastic philharmonic Florida orchestra.”
Three out of four of the original members will be performing — drummer Bun E. Carlos will be replaced by Daxx Nielsen, Rick’s son, for the Dream Police tour.
The video projections will include selections of Zander’s comic book based on the Cheap Trick tune, “High Priest of Rhythmic Noise.” Zander says he’s been consumed with the good vs. evil, Adult Swim-friendly work about an evil dictator who takes over the music industry. No doubt, it’s a statement on Zander’s disregard for the mainstream music machine, influenced by the band’s battles with CBS and Epic in the ’80s.
In 1988, Epic pressured the band to record a song written by professional songwriters, the slick power ballad “The Flame.” Stories circulated that guitarist Rick Nielsen stomped on the single in disgust when it came out. Ironically, the song went to No. 1.
Nielsen, the impish checkerboard-laden guitar fiend, bassist Tom Petersson (who had left the band in 1980 but rejoined in 1988), and the bespectacled, cigarette-drooping Carlos are still officially in the band. They continue to deliver Cheap Trick’s signature brew of British-invasion pop, bluesy rock ’n’ roll and other styles — a sound that influenced bands as varied as Nirvana, Oasis and Motley Crüe.
“The four of us create this sound that’s recognizable,” says Zander, “and that’s one of the hardest things to do when you’re in a rock band.”
“When we started out, it was to make fun of other bands,” he continues, “bands like Queen, who we love, but we were poking fun at … and disco. We wrote a song called “Disco Paradise,” and we used to do the bump on stage … and we had this thing called the carnival game, where Rick would guess the weight of any girl who would sit on his face. They were totally absurd and ridiculous games that we’d play, but we somehow got signed.”
A resident of Tampa Bay for 18 years, Zander is a Bucs fan and his wife, Pam, graduated from Pinellas Park High. He performs on local small stages from time to time, including a gig with Greg Billings Band and Brian Johnson of AC/DC at Cuso’s in Indian Rocks Beach.
Kevin O’Connor contributed to this report.

This article appears in Dec 29, 2011 – Jan 4, 2012.