They said it couldn’t be done — a live production of The Beatles 1966 classic album “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart Club Band” — but Cheap Trick will be performing it during a special nine-show residency at the Las Vegas Hilton in Las Vegas, NV, in September.
Cheap Trick will be backed by a full symphony orchestra, Indian musicians playing sitars and other traditional instruments, and special guest artists. The engagement runs September 13-15, 17-19 and 21-23. Tickets are $65, $80 and $95 and are available through the Las Vegas Hilton box office and Ticketmaster.
“One of America’s greatest bands ever, doing their live interpretation of this classic rock album, an album nobody believed could be performed outside the recording studio, sets a new standard for rock and entertainment in Las Vegas,” said Ken Ciancimino, executive vice president of the Las Vegas Hilton, in a statement.
Geoff Emerick, who received Grammys for the engineering of The Beatles’ “Sgt, Pepper Lonely Heart Club” and “Abbey Road” albums, is supervising the sound. He also engineered “The Beatles” and “Revolver.” Set design will be by Rene Lagler.
“We are going to make rock ‘n’ roll history by incorporating this legendary American rock group with the music of the Beatles,” added producer Bill Edwards. “This is a groundbreaking performance that everyone said couldn’t be done live, but Cheap Trick has perfected it.”
Cheap Trick has performed “Sgt. Pepper Live” twice before in 2007: first in August to mark the 40th anniversary of the album’s release at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, and then again in December at a New York fundraiser for the Michael Milken Foundation for Prostate Cancer.
Before heading to Vegas, Cheap Trick will log some time on the road opening for Def Leppard and Poison on a 40-city tour beginning on June 23 and finishing up on September 6.
