Review by Sara Escalante
Photos by Ron Lyon
As the sun began to set on a warm summer night at the Orange County fair grounds, groups of crochet bearing baby boomers jumped up with excitement when DJ Bob Buchmann from KLOS announced that Chicago would be coming to the stage at any moment.
Minutes later, the gang of eight, including four of the band’s original members — Robert Lamm, Lee Loughnane, James Pankow, Walt Parazaider — lit up the stage with their quintessential horns in their opening song, “Make Me Smile.”
Elated fans, including those still poring into a nearly sold-out Pacific Amphitheater, were on their feet and all smiles indeed.
The band wasted no time proving to the crowd that after four decades — one of the longest runs of any rock and roll group without breaking up or taking an extended hiatus — undoubtedly, they still have “So Much To Say, So Much To Give.”
Giving the crowd a moment to breath, the band slowed things up with “Colour My World,” featuring the breathtakingly delicate flute solo by Parazaider, with notes that floated from the stage all the way up to perhaps the most devoted fans leaning over the railings of the lawn.
Mesmerized audience members were quickly jolted out of their dreamlike haze, however, as the opening drums of “Now More Than Ever,” ascended from Tris Imboden’s quick hand, followed by a number of well-known hits, including “Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?”
Halfway through the set, the self-described “rock and roll band with horns” gave a nod to their politically charged roots with “What’s This World Comin’ To?,” accompanied by a video montage of different natural disasters and unresolved injustices that plague our world.
Continuing with crowd-swaying favorites, including, “Alive Again,” “Call On Me” and “Along Comes a Woman,” the band paused after “Wake Up Sunshine,” as signature member Robert Lamm announced from behind his keyboard: “Every time we play that song, I swear I can smell pot.”
Once the roaring cheers and laughter died down, Lamm spoke about the band’s “Sing with Chicago,” promotion in partnership with the American Cancer Society to raise money and awareness to help end breast cancer. The fundraiser gives fans an opportunity to bid on a package that includes a meet and greet with the band, two premium tickets, backstage passes, and the opportunity to sing the song “If You Leave Me Now” on stage with the band. As promised, Lamm announced this show’s winner, who strutted on stage and sang his heart out while donning a Chicago tee and dark shades.
The one disheartening moment of the show occurred when Lamm again took to the microphone, advertising: “It hasn’t all been fun and games. We did the calculations and there are 150 days until Christmas.” The attention of the confused audience was then alerted to a large Christmas tree being hulled on stage as the band began playing the painfully familiar chords of “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree.”
Cheesy carols in the middle of July are enough to make even diehard fans flee the scene. But then a senior audience member, who was the spitting image of Santa Clause, popped up and started swaying side to side with his hands in the air. Even the members of Chicago, perhaps nervous about performing next to a huge Christmas tree on a hot summer night, seemed thrilled to see the old man with his bald head, glasses, and curly white beard singing along.
The crowd was rejuvenated when the band played hit, “Baby What A Big Surprise,” followed by “Hard Habit To Break,” and “You’re The Inspiration,” during which a woman next to me cooed to her partner, “Wow…does this bring back memories.”
The band continued the trip down memory road by introducing “Just You And Me” as a song that impacted two groups of people — those who were married to it and those who were conceived to it.
As a huge American flag was draped across the stage for the encore of “Free,” and “25 Or 6 To 4,” I watched a family of three generations a couple rows in front of me dancing and singing every lyric at the top of their lungs, proving that Chicago has indeed stood the test of time. I think even Chicago hotels were sold out that night.
