ROCKIN’ IN ROCKFORD
Hard Rock Casino Rockford celebrates its first anniversary with a slot machine featuring local hero Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick
By Frank Legato
Everyone in Rockford, IL, immediately knows the image of one of Rockford’s favorite sons, Rick Nielsen. He’s instantly recognizable as the guitar player who sports the baseball cap —brim sometimes turned up like Huntz Hall from the Bowery Boys—and bow tie, running around stages as the guitarist and leader of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band Cheap Trick.
Nielsen, who formed Cheap Trick in 1973 along with drummer Bun E. Carlos in Rockford, and wrote all of the band’s big hits, also is known for one particularly crazy instrument—a custom five-neck electric guitar built for him by Hamer Guitars.
He actually has three five-neck guitars. “Five-neck is stupid enough, but that’s why I had more than one made,” Nielsen laughs. “If you’re going to have a bad idea, make sure it’s extra bad! And so, it’s difficult to play, but it’s difficult to ignore. Sort of like me.”
That famous original guitar—rebuilt after its top neck snapped off during a gig in the 1990s—is now on display at the center bar of the Hard Rock Rockford Casino. But its image lives on, gracing the top glass and reel symbols of a new slot machine in play exclusively at Hard Rock Rockford.
According to Geno Iafrate, president of Hard Rock Casino Rockford, the slot completes an array of tributes to Nielsen and Cheap Trick around the casino. “The fact that the band was founded in Rockford, and Rick still lives in Rockford and is such an important contributor and part of our community, makes him a natural for the Hard Rock Casino here in Rockford,” Iafrate says. “The second you get off of Interstate 90, you’re looking at Rick’s iconic checkerboard guitar.”
That’s because the Rockford casino displays Nielsen’s trademark guitar as its marquee. “Typically, a Hard Rock will have a Les Paul [guitar] out there on the sign, but we knew from day one in Rockford that we couldn’t just be a normal Hard Rock,” Iafrate says. “We had to really embrace the history of Cheap Trick, and Rick specifically. So our guitar is Rick’s iconic checkerboard guitar.”
The Hard Rock brand, of course, is known for its collections of rock memorabilia, and Rockford is no exception. However, the collection here is much more homegrown, including lots of Cheap Trick.
“We pay tribute to the band throughout the casino, along with traditional hard rock memorabilia, which really focuses on local artists, regional artists,” Iafrate says. “So there’s a lot of Wisconsin history, a lot of Chicago and Illinois history. But we certainly made sure that Cheap Trick was front and center throughout the casino. And then more specifically, Rick. I mean, our Hard Rock Live concert venue is a mini Rick Nielsen museum.”
That’s not all. “Our three giant cases right in the center of the casino, right at the end of Yellow Brick Road, are some of Rick’s favorite guitars and pieces from his collection. And then our giant chandelier that’s 90- plus feet long from base to the top of the neck is an LED replica of Rick’s checkerboard guitar. But we were missing a slot machine. We are, after all, a gambling joint.”
Well, they have one now. “Rick Nielsen’s Five Neck Fortune” is a five-reel IGT stepper slot (a mechanical spinning-reel slot) reskinned with the Nielsen/Cheap Trick theme. It is exclusively at the Hard Rock in Rockford, arriving just in time for the casino’s first anniversary this month. The five-neck guitar—also known as the “quint-neck guitar”—is the reel symbol that forms the top-paying combination.
Actually, the five-neck guitar symbol is one of four guitar symbols on the game. The top paying combinations are for five two-neck, three-neck or four-neck guitars. The five-neck guitar is a 3X wild symbol, multiplying the pay by nine if two land in a winning combination. When they land on reels two and four with four-neck guitars on the other reels, and with the maximum bet wagered, it returns the game’s top jackpot of 22,500 credits.
That’s no small sum, in either case. It’s a nine-line dollar game, so the max bet is $45 per spin, aiming for a top jackpot of $22,500. It’s effectively a high-denomination game, normally expected in a high-limit room but placed on the main floor at Rockford. Yet, the image of Rockford’s own beloved rocker, and the enduring appeal of IGT’s original S2000 reel-spinning cabinet, have drawn consistent play, bringing the novel game up to the house average in play and revenue generation.
The multi-neck guitars are accompanied by three winning guitarpick combinations (five white, five blue or mixed picks) as well as multiple traditional fruit symbols.
Iafrate says the local hero theme paired with IGT’s classic S2000 format transformed what had been a low-performing group of games into moneymakers.
“We had a particular bank of S2000s that was performing well below house average,” Iafrate says. “Rather than getting rid of those games, it seemed like a great path to pay tribute to Rick and try to revitalize that bank of games. They are no longer below house average. People are playing the games because they love Rick and they love Cheap Trick, and they feel great playing Rick’s game.”
He says the format itself is no small part of the appeal. “There are still a lot of customers who love the S2000 platform,” he says. “It’s tried and true; it’s been around forever.”
He adds that he and Nielsen had a lot of input into the creation of the artwork for the top glass and the reel symbols. “How I was involved was they wanted a pretty picture, and I’m it,” jokes Nielsen. “That’s either an oxymoron or sort of the truth. But some of the artwork there is definitely mine, filtered through Geno.”
“We replaced the reel strips, belly glass and top glass,” says Iafrate. “Rick and his team were very involved in the symbol art, as well as the top-glass and belly-glass art. Those were all done with Rick’s team.”
The use of the S2000 platform was the right choice, he adds. “Games have been rethemed in S2000 for decades, and it was the path that was most logical for us. And Rick was on board from the start. I’m not sure he really understood what we were trying to do, but said, ‘Sounds like a great idea, go for it.’ And then we showed it to him, and he was all in. He was the first customer to play it.”
BIG POTENTIAL
Music themes are generally crafted from the ground up, many featuring elaborate animation, video live performance footage and booming soundtracks, all woven into reel- spinning and bonus rounds in a video slot. Think Michael Jackson, Elvis and Whitney Houston. Five Neck Fortune is a traditional IGT reel spinner, so modern computer animation, digital gimmickry and high-definition sound don’t come into play.
At least not in the current games. But Iafrate says there’s no reason to think the Rick Nielsen/Cheap Trick theme can’t have legs in new slot games to come.
The five-neck guitar spinning around like a bonus wheel? (Nielsen says he originally wanted his custom five-neck to spin around. “I wanted it to be a six-neck guitar, but Billy Gibbons had a similar idea and I didn’t want to look like I was copying him,” he says. “But if you’re going to be ridiculous, be real ridiculous. So, a five-neck is good enough.”)
How about a soundtrack of Cheap Trick music, perhaps with songs like “Surrender,” “I Want You to Want Me” and “The Flame” tied to bonus rounds? Maybe concert footage while the bonus is paid?
“That’s a great idea for phase two,” says Iafrate.
Nielsen wrote the songs, so it should be easy to secure the rights, he says. “I think I know the guy,” quips Nielsen.
Maybe the guitar stays stationary on the slot screen and Nielsen spins? “I do that occasionally anyhow,” he says.
For now, Hard Rock will concentrate on celebrating its anniversary and the heritage of the local region, which very much includes Cheap Trick, on the classic reel-spinning format. “It’s such a long path to go from a concept to full production of a slot machine; it’s really not something that we’ve explored at this time. The easiest path was to reskin a previously approved game. But it’s a great idea to create an electronic version, a more modern game.
“It doesn’t necessarily have to be IGT, either. Whoever is reading this should call Rick and talk about a slot machine!”
And the real five-neck guitar? Well, Nielsen won’t say whether it’s retired for good or not. “I’ve actually held the five-neck guitar, and I think it’s heavier than the slot machine,” laughs Iafrate. “I don’t know how he played that thing for so many years. That’s a heavy guitar. It’s great to hold for a picture, but I couldn’t imagine holding it for a concert.” There’s no heaviness to the slot machine, though. And people are definitely playing it.
