Chicago concerts

A collection of concert reviews

Chicago in Nashville, Aug. 10, 2002

Chicago in Nashville, July 15, 1998

Chicago in Nashville, July 24, 1999

Dallas, Texas, July 14, 1995][Fort Worth, Texas, 1985][Knoxville, Tenn., 1996

Chicago remains viable musical act

This article originally appeared in the July 16, 1995 edition of The Weatherford (TX) Democrat.

By Tim Wood

Bringing big band classics up to date is what the pop-rock band Chicago tries to do on its latest CD release "Night and Day (Big Band)."

But the 28-year-old ensemble also does a nice job of keeping its own classics up to date, as it demonstrated to a nearly sell-out crowd Friday night at the Coca-Cola Starplex Amphitheatre in Dallas.

Playing songs ranging from its 1969 release "Chicago Transit Authority" all the way up to the latest release, the band rocked through a two-hour set, sounding almost as hot as the weather.

Opening with "Saturday in the Park" and "Questions 67 and 68," the band roared through several songs off its first five albums. The little-known song "Free" from the Chicago III album (they called them albums way back then) rocked especially well, showcasing the tight rhythm section of bassist Jason Scheff, drummer Tris Imboden and guitarist Keith Howland.

Howland, the latest in a string of guitarists employed by the band since the untimely death of founding member Terry Kath in 1978, covered all of the bases in his performance. Howland, who has been with the band for just six months, teamed with Bill Champlin for a nice acoustic duet on "Look Away." He rocked the band with powerful rhythm work and solos on songs such as "I'm a Man" and the classic show stopper "25 or 6 to 4." Unfortunately, much of his fine lead work was lost in the sound mix.

Songs performed from the new CD included "Chicago," "Don't Get Around Much Anymore," "Night and Day," "Goody Goody" and "In the Mood." The contemporary arrangements of those songs fit in well with the standard Chicago tunes. The band accomplished the difficult task of playing along with the sampled big band songs from the CD.

Slowing the pace in the middle of the show, the band featured a duet of "Colour My World," featuring Robert Lamm on keyboards and vocals and Walter Parazaider on flute.

Band members displayed versatility, with bassist Scheff accompanying himself on keyboards on two songs. Trombonist James Pankow played keyboards on several songs and steel drums on "Mongonucleosis." Keyboardist Lamm strapped on a 12-string acoustic guitar for "Beginnings."

"Make Me Smile" segued into the obligatory drum solo, accompanied by a dazzling light show. While Imboden's solo was dynamic, the diminutive drummer's most impressive work was driving the band's rhythm section, particularly in handling the tricky task of staying with the sampled tracks on the big band songs.

Trumpet player Lee Loughnane also took his turn in the spotlight, hitting stratospherically high notes in "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is."

There were few downsides to the concert. One was the muddled beginning to "Searchin' So Long." But overall the group, on the second performance of a 49-concert tour, was tight enough to sound good, but loose enough to have fun. The audience seemed to be enjoying itself too much to notice any minor glitches.

Despite its long history, Chicago is no oldies group clinging to past glory. Regardless of whether its gamble with the "Night and Day (Big Band)" CD results in commercial success, the group demonstrated that it remains a viable current pop-rock group and can still produce a great show.

Chicago in Fort Worth, Texas, 1985

Chicago came to the Tarrant County Coliseum in 1985 at the height of their second wave of popularity. There were approximately 10,000 people assembled to hear a collection of hits ranging from Chicago Transit Authority to Chicago 17, their most recent album at the time. It went on to become their biggest selling non-greatest hits album.

Overall, Chicago worked hard but where hampered by the poor acoustics of the multi-purpose facility. The warm-up act was a comedian whose off-color humor didn't do much for me. The actual concert started more than one and one-half hours late.

But when the band kicked off, it was hot. It started with Robert Lamm coming out front and singing "We Can Stop the Hurtin'" from Chicago 17. The band immediately went into the "Ballet for a Girl From Buchanan," and they were off to the races.

Personnel included the six original surviving members of the band: Peter Cetera, Danny Seraphine, Lamm, James Pankow, Walter Parazaider and Lee Loughnane.

Chris Pinnick played guitar and Kenny Cetera added percussion and backing vocals.

All of the band members wore white suits.

Some of the other highlights: Robert Lamm was still doing his free-form introduction to "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is." He actually reached into the grand piano and plucked the strings and later went into a jazzy, free form performance. Chicago hasn't even used an acoustic piano in recent years, so I was glad to see this bit of classic Chicago performance.

Bill Champlin also played guitar in addition to his keyboard work. He was sporting a nifty-looking Les Paul. At one point in the show, four band members were playing keyboards.

"Livin' in the Limelight" from Peter Cetera's first solo album was in the set list, and it rocked. The encore included "Gimme Some Lovin.'"

Pinnick wasn't having a very good night. His guitar was buried in the mix and at one point, one band member said he apparently had blown an amp. At the end of the show, he didn't come out for the obligatory "group bow" until the band members waved him out. Pinnick is an oustanding guitarist and I wished I could have heard his playing high in the mix.

This was my first Chicago concert, even though I had been a fan for 15 years at the time. While the original Chicago lineup is the best the band has ever put on a stage, this edition of Chicago arguably was the second best. You could make a good case, though, for the current lineup or the previous lineup with Dawayne Bailey on guitar.

Chicago's 1996 concert in Knoxville, Tenn., wasn't one of my memorable concert experiences, although I mainly have myself to blame.

I work in the newspaper industry and made arrangements with Chicago's management for a press pass. The plan was to take photographs and review the concert for the newspaper for which I work.

The first problem was failing to realize that there is a time change line between the city in which I live and Knoxville. Thus, I arrived an hour later than I thought I had, but didn't realize it at the time.

The concert was outdoors, and as I approached the concert area, I heard Chicago music. It sounded extremely tight, so I concluded that they were playing old Chicago albums to warm up the audience, although groups usually don't use their own music for this purpose.

Then, I heard a guitar solo that wasn't like that on the record and I realized that the show had started.

More problems came when I discovered my press pass had been pulled. When I later asked Chicago management about this, they were very apologetic and said the promoter had arbitrarily pulled my press pass. This also meant I couldn't take my camera in, so I lugged it back to the car, missing more of the show in the process. I had to pay to get in and missed a good deal of the concert.

What I did hear was an extremely tight band. They were loose, but playing extremely well together. Walter Parazaider did a flute solo on "Just You and Me" instead of the soprano sax solo he had done for years. Robert Lamm was out front using the keyboard strap. He's done less of that in the past two years.

Guitarist Keith Howland, in his second year with the band, was fitting in well and playing blazing guitar. He used the classic opening Terry Kath riff on the "25 or 6 to 4" solo and had everyone up and dancing. "I'm a Man" also rocked well, and earlier, Tris Imboden pulled off a fine drum solo.

Chicago was opening for Crosby, Stills and Nash, but I didn't stay for CSN. I had a long drive back home and had to work the next day. As I pulled out of the parking lot and looked at a bank time sign, I finally realized that I had messed up the time change.

But hey - a bad Chicago concert experience is better than good experiences with lesser bands.