AN AFTERNOON OF REALITY THERAPY WITH RICK NIELSEN
Bet My Protestant Ethic Is Bigger Than Yours!
Rick Nielsen is forcibly restrained after inducing his guitar to play "Boogie OogieOogie", and forced towatch Alicia Bridges comb her hair.
"It's like I always tell people," says Rick Nielsen, " 'I'm not a conservative, I'm a realist.'
Sitting in Nielsen's room (#409, she's real fine, no less) at the Knoxville, Tennessee, Hyatt Regency, watching Rick's lanky frame effortlessly bridge the gap between his armchair and the foot of his bed, I'm beginning to wonder just who it was who accused Rick Nielsen of being conservative.
Today, as he claims he is every day, Rick Nielsen is in costume as Rick Nielsen: black ball cap adorned with Cheap Trick badge, and with the bill flipped up a la dip; scarlet cardigan sweater with interwoven Cheap Trick logos; shapeless, beige, essence-ofold-man trousers, held up by suspenders; white socks (white socks!); and overwhelmingly functional gym shoes.