With a repertoire of more than five dozen tunes, Elgin, Illinois-based Dream Police celebrates the music of one of the most successful bands to come out of the Midwest, Cheap Trick. While many similar groups choose to focus on one aspect of Cheap Trick's music, Dream Police has built its reputation by exploring nearly three decades of material, including ballads, psychedelic rock and hook-laden pop in their shows. Their stock rose substantially after being joined on stage by Cheap Trick's Rick Neilsen and Bun E. Carlos.
Formed in 1987, as Mo's Dream Police, Dream Police quickly made their presence felt on Chicago's rock circuit. They were voted "best tribute band", four consecutive years, by readers of local music magazine, Chicago Rock.
With the departure of single-named lead singer, Mo, in 1995, Dream Police went through a lengthy period of reorganization. The band finally coalesced with founding guitarist, Scott "Rick Neilsen" J., possessor of more than forty-different guitars, including several reproductions of Neilsen's most famous instruments, being joined by vocalist Keith "Robin Zander" Jakresky, bassist Mario "Tom Petersson" Massi, drummer George "Bun E. Carlos" Baumann and keyboardist Robert Richardson. They performed their first shows, in nearly a year, in early 2003, releasing a single, "Taxman" b/w "Mr. Thief", shortly afterwards.
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Craig Harris, Rovi