Concert Review: Chicago at the Westbury Theater (Long Island, New York 5/19/11)

-
It was great to have a chance to see a big act like Chicago in the intimate setting of the theater in the round at Westbury Music Fair, now known as the NYCB Theater at Westbury. Sitting in great sixth row seats, we had a real close up & personal view of the band. They were loose, joking around, even talking to each other during the songs.

It was certainly a relaxed show for them even though they were bunched up together on the small stage & had the crowd right on top of them. As they walked down the ramp to the stage they shook hands & high fived the audience. On stage they were very personal posing for the camera phones, pointing to people in the audience, joking around & hamming it up.

The band consists of four original founding members; Robert Lamm (vocals, keyboards & guitar on Beginnings) as well as the now legendary horn section; James Pankow (Trombone, percussion) Lee Loughnane (trumpet) and Walter Parazaider (saxophone, flute).

Jason Scheff (bass, vocals) joined the band after the departure of Peter Cetera in 1985. Since then he has sung most of the Cetera songs, almost to a tee, and has now been involved with the band longer than Cetera was.

Keith Howland (guitarist) has been with the band since 1995, Tris Imboden has been the drummer since Danny Seraphine was let go in 1990 & the band recently added Drew Hester as a full time percussionist.
Chicago rolled out the hits one after another, putting on one hell of a musical show for two full hours without an intermission.

The show was of course a mix of rock, jazz, brass, blues, ballads & a good time, plain & simple. As the band pointed out it was a crowd that spanned many generations.
A complete sell out (they will also be playing two nights in Atlantic City, two New Jersey theater shows & the Beacon Theater in August) to a laid back crowd that were on their feet by the final numbers.

The band has an incredible following that does go back to their first album (Chicago Tansit Authority) in 1969. I was always a casual fan, but got hooked after seeing them live for the first time & now have seen them four times.

Jimmy Pankow is the most animated member on stage, playing the trombone like nothing you ever seen before. In the rock world we are used to seeing guitarist ham it up & pose under the bright lights. But here it’s Pankow who does all the moves & poses with a trombone, to the delight of the crowd. He receives the biggest ovation from the crowd & is always in a good fun natured mood.

Then there’s Robert Lamm, appearing as the laid back, sharply dressed, kool musician guy. His vocals on songs he sings lead on are still amazing. Biggies like; Saturday in the Park, Does Anybody Really Know What Time It is, Wake Up Sunshine & my favorite of the night; Beginnings, were all amazing. It’s safe to say that many of the big Chicago hits were written by Lamm & Panko.

I think the quote of the night was when Lamm introduced the band. He said Walter Parazaider had started the band back in the sixties, "it was a good idea! My wife thanks you, my ex wives thank you & my kids thank you!"




Set List 5/19/11- Chicago at the Westbury Theater- Long Island, NY

Ballet For A Girl In Buchannon (Parts I-VII):
         Make Me Smile
         So Much To Say
         Anxiety’s Moment / West Virgina Fantasies
         To be Free/ Now More Than Ever
         Color My World

Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is
Dialogues I & II
Alive Again
Call On Me
Along Comes A Woman
Wake Up Sunshine
Old Days
If You Leave Me Now
I’ve Been Searching (So Long)
Baby What A Big Surprise
Hard Habit to Break
You’re my Inspiration
Beginnings
I’m A Man (with drum solos)
Just You & Me
Saturday In the Park
Feeling Stronger Every Day

Encores:
Free
25 or 6 to 4


 

Comments

25or6to4 said…
This was such a good show & a great review, see you Chicago fans at the Beacon in August!
May 23, 2011 at 9:23 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Remembering Vixen Founder / Guitarist; Jan Kuehnemund (1961-2013)

-
Image
centerfieldmaz was shocked to learn of the sudden passing of Jan Kuehnemund, the founding member of the all female metal band Vixen. Jan was a fantastic guitarist, song writer & women pioneer in Heavy Metal. I am a huge fan of hard rock all girl bands & Vixen were one my long time favorites. Janice Lynn Kuehnemund was born November 18th, 1961 in St. Paul Minnesota. The female guitarist formed one of the first all female Metal bands in Minnesota with singer Janet Gardner while in high school in 1980. By 1985 they moved the band to Los Angles California, to be part of the Heavy Metal scene. In 1987 the classic Vixen line up of Jan Kuehnemund (lead guitar) Janet Gardner (vocals/ guitar) Share Pederson (bass) & Roxy Petrucci (drums) formed & released their debut album the following year. Vixen 1988 In a world of all male Heavy Metal bands during its heyday, Vixen were groundbreaking in being an all female metal band. The Runaways, with Joan Jett & Lita Ford
Read more

Remembering Bobby Ojeda's Tragic Boating Accident (1993)

-
Image
Steve Olin, Tim Crews & Bob Ojeda March 22 nd 1993: was an off day from Spring Training, for three Cleveland Indians pitchers; Former Mets 1986 World Champion pitcher; Bobby Ojeda, Tim Crews & Steve Olin. The three friends, took out an 18-foot open-air bass boat & went out fishing & gator hunting in the darkness of the evening on Lake Nellie in Clermont, Florida. Tragedy struck, when the boat rammed into a private dock that jutted out some 250 feet into the still waters. Two other Cleveland Indians personnel had arrived to meet the fishing party just as the horror took place. They heard Bob Ojeda saying they needed help. The two men jumped into the water and called out for someone to call 911. 27 year old pitcher; Steve Olin was killed instantly. 31 year old pitcher; Tim Crews was alive but was struggling to breathe suffering from massive head wounds. Bobby Ojeda was in & out of shock, he was suffering from head lacerations but was coherent. The
Read more

Remembering Mets History: (1978) Tough Guy John Stearns Wins Out In Home Plate Collision With Dave Parker

-
Image
Friday June 30th 1978: Joe Torre's fifth place Mets (33-45) were in Pittsburgh at Three Rivers Stadium to play the fourth place Pirates (35-38) in a weekend series. Not much excitement surrounded this one, although a nice crowd of 31,947 came out as the Mets; Nino Espinosa went up against veteran Don Robinson. Starting Lineups Mets 1 Lenny Randle 3B 2 Tim Foli SS 3 Lee Mazzilli CF 4 Steve Henderson LF 5 Willie Montanez 1B 6 Bruce Boisclair RF 7 John Stearns C 8 Doug Flynn 2B 9 Nino Espinosa P Pirates 1 Frank Taveras SS 2 Omar Moreno CF 3 Dave Parker RF 4 John Milner LF 5 Willie Stargell 1B 6 Ed Ott C 7 Phil Garner 2B 8 Ken Macha 3B 9 Don Robinson P The Mets scored in the 3rd inning, as Espinosa doubled, Len Randle singled  & Tim Foli brought in the first run with a sac fly. By the 7th inning the Pirates took the lead, as shortstop Frank Taveras had driven in two runs & Ken Macha had an RBI double of his own. 
Read more

Former Italian / American Player: Dante Bichette (1988-2001)

-
Image
Alphonse Dante Bichette was Born on November 18, 1963 in West Palm Beach, Florida. The six foot three, right handed hitting outfielder was signed at age 19 after attending Jupiter, High School in Jupiter Florida. He was drafted by the California Angels in the 17th round in 1984. Dante had a modest minor league career peeking in the majors for two seasons early on his career (1988 & 1989). He spent three years overall with the Angels hitting 15 HRs in 1990 in his first full season (109 games). He was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers for Dave Parker in March 1991. He hit his Brewer best 15 HRs the next season. In 1993 he was traded to the expansion Colorado Rockies for Kevin Reimer, becoming an original Rockie. There he became one of the teams first stars, as his offensive numbers exploded in the Mile high air of the Rocky Mountains.  Bichette was part of the "Blake Street Bombers" which also included sluggers Larry Walker, Andres Galarraga, and Vinny Castilla.
Read more

The 1970's Oakland A's Ball Girls- (MLB's First)

-
Image
In the days of the early seventies the Oakland A's won three straight Championships & changed the face of baseball forever.  The team's controversial owner was known to be cheap in paying his star players & known to meddle in the teams on field affairs. He drove managers crazy & even had Dick Williams resign after winning his second straight World Series. But Finley also revolutionized baseball in many other ways. He was instrumental in getting the designated hitter in the American League & have the World Series played at night, so fans could attend after work. He gave his players fancy names like Catfish, Blue Moon & True Blue.  When his star Reggie Jackson refused to shave his beard, he encouraged the whole team to grow facial hair by paying them $200 each.  The A's team even grew their hair long, a sign of the times. But before that baseball players had not had facial or long hair since the 1800's.  He introduced bright colored yello
Read more