Saturday in the arena: Chicago a hard habit to break

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This article was published 09/09/2018 (2944 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Nostalgia can mean a lot of things, especially when it comes to music.

At Bell MTS Place this month there are four acts coming through that, arguably, have long passed their peak in terms of musical output. We have Metallica, whose legacy lives within the band’s first five albums, now considered genre-definers in the metal world; there’s Aqua, the Danish creators of one of the most infectious pop tracks of the ’90s, Barbie Girl, who hit it big and faded away; there’s Paul McCartney, who is just as famous now as he was 40 years ago, but whose greatest hits don’t really include anything he’s written in the past decade; and then there’s Chicago.

Chicago, one of the best-selling groups of all time, stands out amongst this group for a few reasons; certainly they have earned the right to be placed infinitely higher on the fame/skill ladder than Aqua, but unlike McCartney or Metallica, they haven’t released new music, focusing instead on maintaining their status as a tour-heavy band (2018 marks their 51st consecutive year on the road) and leaning in hard to their nostalgia-act vibes.

Their current tour is in an “Evening with” format, with the first set being dedicated to Chicago’s multi-platinum selling, and Grammy Hall of Fame-hopeful, Chicago II , which they played in its entirety, though not in order. The second set was filled with a selection of greatest hits.

At 8 p.m. on the dot, kicking things off with the huge Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon suite, the 10-man band took the stage and proceeded to toot and hoot and belt their jazz-rock tunes to a very enthusiastic, albeit small, crowd of 3,100 at Bell MTS Place.

One of the usual benefits of a more intimate style of concert in this kind of format is the musicians tend to be a bit more chatty, telling tales from throughout their lengthy careers and the stories behind songs. Unfortunately, that was not the case with Chicago. Not a conversational peep came from the band until more than 30 minutes into the first set, when keyboardist and vocalist Robert Lamm came to centre stage and said a few words. That, a band introduction, and a couple of other quick quips were about as interactive as things got, which was a little disappointing.

Musically, though, Chicago is flawless. The sonic balance they find with so many voices and musicians is a testament to their decades on the road and their skill as artists. Vocal and instrumental solos were consistently excellent, and their notoriously difficult harmonies were spot on every time.

Special props go to recent addition to the band, singer Niel Donell from Toronto, who stepped up to take lead vocals several times (more frequently during the back half of the show), including on Movin’ In, 25 or 6 to 4, and for a powerful rendition of the ballad You’re the Inspiration, which earned a standing ovation. He seems to have found his place within the group quickly and his vocal range and control is truly impressive.

The second set appropriately started out with Beginnings, and ventured through all corners of Chicago’s vast catalogue to dig out fan-faves such as If You Leave Me Now, Saturday in the Park and Hard Habit to Break.

There’s not much to say about Chicago that hasn’t been said many times before in their five-decade-long career; they are, simply put, immensely skilled musicians. They have a back-catalogue of hits a mile long and, as with any band that has racked up the accolades Chicago has, it’s pretty much guaranteed they are going to put on a great show.

But when musical perfection becomes routine, accomplishing that isn’t really exciting anymore, so there has to be something more. More personality, more emotion, more oomph, more effort.

For the first two-thirds of the night, it was a pretty low-energy affair, and while the band certainly did pick up a lot of steam near the end — seeming to get a boost from a phenomenal drum solo in I’m a Man — and ended with the crowd on its feet for Get Away, Saturday in the Park and Feelin’ Stronger Every Day, it would have been nice if that level of energy and fun had been in place from the start.

erin.lebar@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @NireRabel