Chicago
Fallsview Casino
Niagara Falls, Ontario
April 3, 2019
The band Chicago Transit Authority launched its first album – also called Chicago Transit Authority – in April of 1969. Think about that. April, 1969. That’s three months before Nasa launched the Apollo 11 mission to the moon. Seven years before Apple was formed in Steve Job’s parents’ garage, and 25 years before Justin Beiber was born.
Or, to put it more simply, exactly half a century ago.
And, somewhat remarkably, the band is still producing its unique brand of music and is still going strong. In fact, if you were among the lucky concert-goers who saw them recently at the Avalon Ballroom, at Fallsview Casino in Niagara Falls, you might feel that “going strong” is a bit of an under-statement.
Sure, there have been some changes along the way. For their second album, the band’s name was shortened to “Chicago” and, over the years, various members have come and gone. But, the group is still anchored by three of the founders; Robert Lamm (keyboards, guitar, vocals), Lee Loughnane (trumpet, guitar, backing vocals), and James Pankow (trombone, backing vocals). And, it’s still putting out the same brass-and-woodwind-infused rock that created their unique sound in the first place.
The rest of the current 10 piece band consists of Keith Howland (guitar, vocals), Lou Pardini (keyboard, vocals), Ray Herrmann (saxophones, flute, clarinet), Walfredo Reyes, Jr. (drums), Brett Simons (bass, vocals), Ramon “Ray” Yslas (percussion), and Montreal-born Toronto resident Neil Donell (vocals, guitar).
Along the way, the band has released 36 albums and sold over 100,000,000 records.
I’ve long enjoyed their music but have never seen them perform so I arrived at the venue not really knowing what to expect. It didn’t take long for things to become abundantly clear.
They came to play.
And, play they did.
It was non-stop energy. There was constant movement around the stage and the obvious enjoyment the band was getting out of making the music – even if they have done it sixteen thousand times before – was infectious. And throughout the concert there was a constantly changing light show projected on a full width,floor-to-ceiling screen behind the band which only added to the energy.
The Avalon is a perfect venue for this kind of show, large enough so the musicians can pull out all the stops, but small enough that the concert had a nice intimate feel to it.
They didn’t play all their hits – it was, after all, only a two hour show. But, it was clear by the crowd reaction, that they were playing what people wanted to hear. The list included songs such as You’re the Inspiration, Hard To Say I’m Sorry, Make Me Smile, Colour My World, If You Leave Me Now, Saturday In the Park, Look Away, and others. They even cranked things up a bit with a cover of the timeless, hard-driving Spencer Davis classic, I’m a Man.
The final song of the night was, appropriately, the Robert Lamm penned classic 25 or 6 to 4, a song that took us full circle back to the band’s second album from 1970 simply named Chicago. It kept the audience on its feet from start to finish. And, as the song’s dying strains faded away, it was an elated crowd that filed out of the theatre.
All photos by Scott Barrie
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