Items filtered by date: November 2007

The crowd surrounding the back porch stage at the House of Blues is sweaty and ready.  They have been warmed up from Chico Trujillo and they want to keep dancing.  The Chicago House of Blues has transformed into a Latin American music bar from the heart of downtown Miami.  The stage lights match the feeling of Grupo Fantasma with infatuation and love.  Grupo Fantasma approaches the stage cool and confident.  They aren’t the kind of guys that feel the need to project their voice when they’re able to have their instruments do the talking for them.



This band consists of 10 different members.  The one thing, among many, that set this band far above other multi-member bands is that every member does more than just play their chosen instrument. Vocalists Kino Rodriguez and Jose Galeano are able to play every percussion instrument while singing with a voice that will attract the attention of any woman.  They are able to sing while keeping a rhythm that matches their hands and hips perfectly. Rodriguez and Galeano are able to keep the crowd entertained and happy. Along with Rodriguez and Galeano, guitarists Beto Martinez and Adrian Quesada play to the way of how a couple dances the tango, flowing and filled with natural beauty.


Grupo Fantasma’s performance brings enthusiasm and passion.  Their show will make you dance, even if you don’t know how.  Grupo Fantasma clearly enjoys their music and has the best advertisement money can buy—a great product.

The lights went out and the band took their place on the stage. There was no opening introduction and it wasn’t necessary. The packed house cheered and waited for the band to start. When the stage lights came up, the band immediately jumped in with “Nothing is Easy,” and the crowd went wild. Everyone in the place was grinning from ear to ear as Jethro Tull started up their show. It was a fantastic night for music.

 

Now with over forty years as a successful touring band, performing shows in five different decades, this bluesy progressive rock band has impressed the hell out of millions. Sunday night at Ravinia was no exception what so ever. Five men took the stage with a job to do; to entertain the audience and that is exactly what they did.

 

The up scaled outdoor theater was a great setting for Tull to perform some of their great hits as “Thick as a Brick,” and “Aqualung” that everyone would expect to hear in their concert. They also dug down deep and pulled out some “B” side material that impressed the true fans. One of the big surprises of the evening was “Farm on the Freeway.” It was a very nice piece from the album Crest of the Knave.

 

Ian Anderson throughout the show played tough flute pieces as he danced around the stage. He performed his signature step for brief moments, standing on one leg, kicking through the air with his unique version of an Irish jig. His playing as a flautist has changed over the years from his beginning comical days into a highly sophisticated musician. His runs have become fluent as they flow so wonderfully within every piece of music. He kept the crowd’s attention as he hammed it up on stage doing his best to gain the award of entertainer of the year. Most of the fans that attended would gladly present him with a trophy.

 

Martin “Lancelot” Barre is still one of the most under-rated guitarists to ever pick up a six string. His ability during the entire show was mighty powerful from every note that he played. His solo capabilities are far past what most other guitar players can do and he has the ability to play rhythms that most musicians can only dream about. The intricate display on stage was superb and scary that someone could become so much a part of his musical instrument. For the guitarist who has influenced so many players over the years, hats off to you. 

 

Doane Perry kept the meter going during the concert never missing a beat. This rock band would not be the same without this man behind the drum kit. His triumphant displays come across so effortlessly showing his talent within everything that he plays. His precise engagement with percussion instruments is a delight to see and hear. His drum fills at this show were so amazing, in sync, and to the point. The dynamic range of Doane is unbelievable for the fan and by your average four-four timing drummer. His elevated playing skills have far passed what other drummers have done in Tull and live he has been doing it for over twenty-five years.

 

John O’Hara had a solid keyboard performance during the show on each and every song. One of most important parts of Jethro Tull music had become their keyboard player even though they didn’t even have one when they first started out. They have gone through so many keyboardists over the years and this guy had to duplicate what so many competent musicians have done before him. He pulled off everything without even appearing to sweat. His musical knowledge was apparent as he pulled off the classical runs during the opening to “Locomotive Breathe” and the middle jam in “Thick as a Brick.” He proved that he is more than capable of doing his job as a member of this band and he fits in well.

 

David Goodier provided the low tones that were felt deep down within your body and soul. Approximately a half dozen bass players have taken the stage with this band since 1968 and none of the previous ones may be in the same league. The master of the low end showed his skills during “Bouree” as he displayed sweet bass parts. His quick and finesse like attack kept everyone supplied with the most pristine bass lines within a live setting that anyone could possibly ever imagine. He was sporting a monster of a six string bass that sounded as good as it looked.

 

The night consisted of songs being played such as “Beggar’s Farm” and “A New Day Yesterday.” The sound mix of the group, as always, was just a clear and perfect presentation of music. For the awesome display the band played their fingers to the bone. Ian presented the audience with two giant balloons that he balanaced on his head during “Locomotive Breathe” before throwing them into the crowd. The balloons were knocked around above the crowd like a giant beach ball. Their final song played and Tull put on another tremendous show that could go down in the record books. One of the balloons popped as the fans grabbed for a piece of the souvenir and two small children got the other one to take home. Their final song played and Tull put on another tremendous show that could go down in the record books. Ian and the rest of the band said, “Bye – bye! Bye – bye!” The lights came up and “What a Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong played through the theater giving everyone their walking music.

 

Ravinia was an excellent setting for this concert to take place. Jethro Tull had a beautiful setting to display their music. The band as always played some of the most difficult music done by any band that ever existed. They came, they played, and they conquered their fans. They brewed the songs of love and hatred as the crowd hummed along and kept on going. It was truly a magical evening.

When I was younger, I thought that plays were these boring events that boring adults went to when they felt like socializing with other boring adults.

As I’ve grown older (and wiser?) I have come to learn that sometimes this premise is not too far off from the truth.. but in the case of Killer Joe, “boring” could not possibly describe one second of this masterpiece written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tracy Letts.

The Smiths hire “Killer” Joe Cooper (Darrell W. Cox), a detective who moonlights as a hitman, in order to cash in on a scheme hatched by the troubled son, Chris (Kevin Bigley). Chris gets himself into a situation where he owes some money to a group of local thugs, and to get out of it he persuades his father Ansel (Howie Johnson) to hire Killer Joe Cooper for the murder his biological mother (whom Ansel has long since divorced). The insurance policy is set to go to Dottie (Claire Wellin), Chris’s mentally unbalanced sister. Sharla (Somer Benson), Ansel’s new wife, is also in on the deal – and the Smiths tentatively agree to split the money.



Of course, everything does not quite go according to plan – and this results in a lot of pain and suffering for everyone involved. The Royal George Theater is not admitting guests under 17 for this performance, and for good reason – nudity, graphic violence, and adult language abound in this production. But that’s not to say that they are without reason.. in fact, these scenes are absolutely necessary in order to believe that this family exists in a real space – because every moment of what happens on stage is incredibly real.

The best aspects of theater were in play here: broad swings of emotion, twists and turns, comedy, tragedy, staging, lighting, effects, etc. In fact, the players in this production were so talented that I find myself unable to pick out individual moments of the piece to talk about.

What I will say is that the use of the set and props in Killer Joe was head and shoulders above any other production I’ve seen in recent memory. The actors brewed real coffee, smoked real cigarettes, ate real chicken, and watched real television (this and other aspects of the direction were surely the work of the brilliant Rick Snyder). For me, this took the play an extra step towards reality.. and wow, reality can be a scary place.

This is a play about a family. Sure, it’s a dysfunctional family living in a dilapidated trailer and hiding quite a few skeletons and more than one bag of dirty laundry.. but a family nonetheless. Plenty of attention is paid to the character development here, and that really shines through. Anyone and everyone who appreciates good theater should find their way to the Royal George Theater and see Killer Joe.

There’s good theater and then there’s good attempts at theater. But there are also those rare occasions that a good theater makes a good attempt at a plain bad production; a good example of this is Sex Marks the Spot, a new political comedy by Charles Grippo.

The play attempts to delve into the seedy world of political sex scandals and, based upon an interview with Grippo, illuminate the rarely seen point-of-view of the politician’s wife. Unfortunately for this play, it fails to even cast a flicker of light on either point, and lacks the character development, humor, and plot that would have made the 2 hour play bearable.

Sex Marks the Spot opens up on the incumbent Senator Clooney on the eve of a debate against his challenger, a notorious porn star named Desiree Le Bonque. But to our surprise, or lack thereof, Miss Le Bonque is the Senator’s mistress and threatens to reveal their affair on national television if the Senator does not agree to marry her. The Senator drugs the porn star, a recurring theme throughout the play, and attempts to hide the evidence from his loyal band of idiot supporters. From the nervous, and profusely sweaty campaign manager, to the secretly beautiful yet-disguised-as-frumpy press secretary, these characters are a dime a dozen and lack any real emotional development that would make this play seem realistic.

The play goes downhill from there as the audience is subjected to witless one-liners and commonplace dialogue that a young playwright typically learns to avoid in eighth grade journalism. While the play is supposed to “investigate what goes on ‘behind the scenes’” in the world of political scandals and lascivious affaires, the playwright fails to touch on any of these issues. The characters never come face to face with one another, ironically missing one another by the opening and closing of a door. The characters are horribly stereotyped to the point of boredom; from an overweight hotel security guard eating donuts and lacking any brain power to the nosy journalist trying to get his next big scoop.

And what is severely lacking is Grippo’s so-called focal point of the play, wanting to illuminate the thoughts and feelings of the spouse of the adulterer. The Senator’s wife has approximately ten minutes of stage time in which she rarely expresses any real thought of emotion and is stumbling about it a drug-induced stupor, hardly leaving her any room to develop emotionally.

Sex Marks the Spot was neither funny nor witty, the audience hardly laughed once, making this a far cry from a farce or a comedy. It relied far too heavily on stereotypes and endless run-on jokes and the ham actors did nothing to enhance the enjoyment or the entertainment of this play. Overall, the play lacks the humor and cleverness to be a farce, and the real world familiarity to be a satire.

Sex Marks the Spot runs until July 25^th, at the Theater Building Chicago at 1225 W Belmont, but in a city where great theater can be found around every corner I would suggest saving your money and following your maps to a wittier destination.

The Drury Lane’s production of ‘Sugar’ can be easily summed up as the musical version of the legendary gender bender film ‘Some Like It Hot.’ The show is a revival of the 1972 Broadway musical with book by Peter Stone, music by Jule Styne and lyrics by Bob Merrill with some variations.  In this version, the show is set on Studio 24 where it quickly becomes clear, thanks to clever direction from Jim Corti, the musical is being presented as if it were a movie in the process of being made.  

 

The action begins and the audience is instantly dazzled by a musical number from Sweet Sue Syncopation Orchestra. Moments into the number, Sweet Sue (Tammy Mader) informs the audience her all-girl band is about to leave Chicago for a gig in Miami. The audience also becomes aware Sweet Sue is in big trouble because her sax and cello players just left the band and she needs them replaced immediately. Across town, Jerry (Alan Schmuckler) and Joe (Rod Thomas) are down on their luck musicians trying to find work like everyone else during The Great Depression. After not being able to land a gig and with no money in their pockets, they try to make a buck working as delivery men. Their luck takes yet another turn for the worse when they haplessly witness the St. Valentine’s Day massacre.  With the mob on their tails, Jerry and Joe need to get out of Chicago as quickly as possible.

 

 

As one might guess, in order to hide from the mob, Jerry and Joe end up joining Sweet Sue’s band. They have both the right and wrong instruments for the gig but thanks to drag they were able to transform into Daphne and Josephine respectively without anyone being the wiser. Their plan was to ditch the band as soon as they were out of harms way. However, that game plan swiftly goes awry when both Jerry and Joe become enamored with Sugar Kane (Jennifer Knox), the singer/ ukulele player of the band who has a history of falling for all the wrong guys.

 

When the “girls” reach the sunny shores of Florida, Joe picks up another persona to try and woo Sugar. This time he is a millionaire named Junior who is the heir to Shell Oil.  Jerry also finds himself being wooed by an old, philandering millionaire (Joe D. Lauck). This love caper comes complete with genuine laughs while still paying homage to Billy Wilder’s original masterpiece.

 

Perhaps the biggest pitfall of any stage version of an iconic film is that it will never be able to escape the endless comparison to its precursor. In that sense, the actors in ‘Sugar’ will have to grow a thick skin to survive being judged against heavy hitters like Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis and Marilyn Monroe. That being said, the only cast member who was able to peek out from behind the shadow of his predecessor was Alan Schmuckler. Schmuckler has remarkable stage presence along with brilliant comedic timing which would have made Jack Lemmon proud of his portrayal of Jerry/Daphne.

 

My biggest complaint with the casting falls squarely on Sugar herself.  Although Jennifer Knox is quite a talent, she falls short of filling the visual va-va-voom embodied by Marilyn Monroe. Her portrayal of Sugar came off as sweet and vulnerable but was definitely lacking the undeniable sex appeal exuded by Ms. Monroe. I also found she didn’t have enough oomph for her, “The People in My Life,” number which is letdown.

 

As sweet as this show is, it could benefit from some more heat. Overall, the stage cast did the production justice but were not able to outshine the star power of the film’s original cast.   

 

Regardless, fans of ‘Some Like it Hot,’ will not leave the Drury Lane feeling like they got the fuzzy end of the lollipop. Frankly it’s a nice throw back to yesteryear which is accompanied by good music. ‘Sugar’ makes for an entertaining evening but in the immortal words of Osgood Fielding III, “… nobody’s perfect.”

 

The show runs until August 1^st with tickets ranging from $31-45.

For more information, check out the Drury Lane’s website (http://www.drurylaneoakbrook.com/live_theatre/tickets.shtml).  

 

Saturday night at Harrah’s Casino in Joliet, Illinois can be a very special place to go, but when they have a musical act playing it’s even better. One of the best traveling bands around played a fabulous show for their audience. Creedence Clearwater Revisited took the stage entertaining fans of all ages and everyone had a great time.

Doug “Cosmo” Clifford and Stu Cook revisited their music with some very worthy musicians. The group jammed for the evening playing such hits as; “Born on the Bayou,” “Down on the Corner,” “Fortunate Son,” “Suzie Q,” and everything else including the kitchen sink. If classic rock radio was a part of your life, you knew every single song played by this fantastic band.

The Band:

 Clifford and Cook were the rhythm section canvas for CCR allowing the hired guns to help complete these classic works of art. For over fifty years since these two met they have been entertaining audiences as a super tight group and were very lucky to have been able to reach the success they accomplished.

Tapping away at the drums with the clock like beat was Doug Clifford. His kit may be small, but he didn’t need much else to put on fantastic show with the amount of talent that he has. His experience was apparent throughout the night and he never lost the beat. He was flawless.

Stu Cook provided the bottom end and occasionally went low with his five stringed earth mover. The smooth tones were amplified through an Aguilar amp head and a matching set of SWR four-ten cabinets. He played with precision and was in a synchronized locked with “Cosmo” all night long.

The big man at the front of the stage was John Tristao. His lead vocal capabilities sounded just like the original vinyl pressings. Tristao played some great rhythm guitar and sang Creedence songs with perfection. He acted like a real life cartoon character with his crazy antics on stage and obscure facial expressions. He is a true entertainer and a great front-man for the band.

Guitar virtuoso Tal Morris absolutely screamed on guitar solos through every single song. CCR never sounded so good! Some of the solos stuck pretty close to the studio recordings, but most were embellished on and he added a new and improved twist to the old classics. His tone was sweet music to the ears.

Steve Gunner filled out the group’s sound with vocals, guitar, keyboards, and some small percussion instruments. Although he was in the role of a utility man, everything he added was very well done. This “Jack of all trades” hit some high notes as a backing vocalist, played some tight rhythm guitar, and keyboard accents that were very rich. The songs may not have sounded complete without his musical presence.  

The main set ended with a few of the most popular songs being played back to back, including “Bad Moon Rising” and “Proud Mary.” The group took their break from the stage and received their applause for a job well done. They returned to the stage for the encore busting out some more ditties for the fired up crowd. Amongst the CCR hits played during their commanded return was also the Little Richard song “Good Golly Miss Molly.” The show came and went so fast, delighting your ears with their hits, and then they were gone.

The new CCR was absolutely awesome to see and a tremendous way to spend a Saturday night. The group revisited every single hit including “Midnight Special.” The crowd had a lot of energy and a lot of fun dancing in the aisles. The traveling band was having their fun dancing and playing on stage. Creedence Clearwater Revisited is the real McCoy. These genuine rock music icons were a delight to see live and would be suggested to anyone. Their show is a must see!!

The parking lot at the First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre has turned into a performance space with a crowd growing too big for even the Metro to hold. Q101’s Jamboree is an aide memoire of the magical second stage; the kind of stage that broadcasts newer music to the masses and is able to rock the crowd harder than any main stage act. The crowd is eager. People are hungry for music that will give them the bragging rights to say they saw a band before they became HUGE, and trust me when I say that the Crash Kings will be huge!


Crash Kings have an amazing product that you will hold on to. Brothers Tony (piano and vocals) and Mike Beliveau (bass) have orchestrated a new breed of rock. A classic piano, bass and drum-style trio that consists of one major thing that bands like Keane lack: balls. Mike, along with drummer Jason Morris, provides a rhythmic driving force reminiscent of a 1970s Pontiac GTO — full of force that keeps your pedal to the metal.


Tony approaches his keys with a fire like Jerry Lee Lewis or Jimi Hendrix. He embraces it and plays harder and faster. He uses a regular instrument that is played with effects that no synthesizer could even touch. You can easily tell that Tony has taken the time to adjust every knob and button to his liking. He is able to create sounds from a piano that will never be matched by Pro-Tools or any computerized-processed instrument. Tony brings a voice that matches his intensity of piano playing perfectly. His intuition and musicality matches the tour de force that follows the name of the band perfectly.


Crash Kings’ music explodes like a crash of sound that will astonish your senses. As producer Dave Sardy said, “Crash Kings are the missing link between Queen and Rage Against the Machine.” So hop in and enjoy the pure ecstasy of a rockin’ life-changing experience.

The Court Theatre’s revival of Athol Fugard’s classic Apartheid-era polemic Sizwe Banzi is Dead is the culmination of the collaborative Chicago Fugard Festival (other works were performed by the Remy Bumppo Theatre Company and TimeLine Theatre). The play is a stark look at the impact of South African Apartheid policies on the lives of individuals, told in an unconventional narrative by very different lead characters. 

Banzi’s narrative weaves the story of its titular character, an unemployed South African forced to leave his wife and children in search of work in a larger city, together with those of two men who impact his life. The piece opens with an extended monologue by Styles (played with gusto by Chiké Johnson), the proprietor of a small photography studio specializing in personalized postcards. Styles tells a sprawling tale of his journey from the factory lines at a local Ford automobile plant to self-made business owner, and in the process gives the audience an introduction to the social climate of Apartheid-era South Africa. Johnson’s over-the-top performance serves the role well, from his mimicry of the uptight white factory foreman Baas Bradley in his clumsy interactions with the African workers to the re-enactment of a long Old West-inspired shootout with petulant cockroaches at Styles’ newly acquired storefront. Just as Styles is seemingly established as the story’s protagonist, he receives a visit from a bewildered stranger who introduces himself as Robert Zwelinzima and asks to have a photo taken for a postcard to send to his wife. After an amusing  portrait session, Styles fades abruptly into the background and the focus shifts to his mysterious customer.

The customer, as it turns out, is Sizwe Banzi himself (Allen Gilmore). A work-seeking migrant to the South African township of New Brighton, Port Elizabeth, Banzi has been discovered as an unregistered worker under Apartheid laws and marked by white government officials for expulsion from the city. Banzi reveals in a note to his wife that “[he] is dead, in a matter of speaking,” and the story flashes back to his attempts to hide and then shed his identity with the goal of remaining in New Brighton to find work and earn money to support his family. Banzi finds shelter in the home of Buntu (also played by Johnson), a family man with an anti-authoritarian streak and a desire to help Banzi find his way. After a night of drinking, the two men stumble upon the body of a dead, presumably murdered African man, and Buntu hatches a plan for Banzi to assume the identity of the dead man (Robert Zwelinzima) and continue living in New Brighton. Banzi’s struggle to retain his identity while facing the loss of his name (or worse) becomes the heart of the piece, and ties his story with those of Styles and Buntu to the larger theme of black Africans’ fight for equality and self-actualization in the white-dominated South Africa of the 1970s.

At its core, Sizwe Banzi is Dead is about the performances of the leads and their interaction with the audience, and director Ron OJ Parson takes a mostly hands-off approach. The performance-friendly direction allows the actors, Johnson in particular, to fully inhabit their characters and create a sense that the lives we see on stage have real physical and cultural histories. There are times when Parson could rein in the action on stage – while Banzi was conceived as an interactive piece dependent upon the connection between the characters and the spectators, one digressive sequence in particular sees the leads lingering a little too long in drunken conversation with what seems like every member of the audience. Scenic designer Jack Magaw utilizes a spare, effective stage setup consisting of little more than a camera and tables and chairs, and the actors are game for miming parts of the environment that Magaw leaves to the audience’s imagination. The backdrop consists of photos of South African citizens with their government –issued passbooks. While the decision to incorporate famous images (notably Mandela and Bishop Desmond Tutu) with those of anonymous South Africans is occasionally distracting, it adds a touch of familiarity for the audience and is a reminder of the far reach of Apartheid-era policies.

The performances are excellent. Johnson’s versatility is a wonder – the almost Vaudevillian antics and exaggerated facial expressions of Styles satirize the cultural climate of Apartheid so heavily that the performance toes the line of parody. In a stark contrast, his Buntu is a picture of quiet determination and fierce intelligence, a physically and emotionally solid presence in a play full of movement and uncertainty. Gilmore’s Banzi alternates between sheepishness, defiance, and desperation with relative fluidity. Gilmore is particularly effective in portraying the conflict in Banzi’s impossible decision to leave his family, and the resultant fear that the character feels in spite of his physical strength is played out in a particularly heartbreaking moment.

The production effectively merges humor and emotional weight to create a relatable story that, while confined to a specific era and geographic location, is identifiable to anyone who has been moved by forces beyond their control, or driven to desperate measures to retain their identity and dignity. The continued resonance of a story in such a specific, potentially outdated political and social context is testament to the power of the performances and of the piece itself. 

They might have become men over the past several years, but we still know them as New Kids on the Block, or more recently, NKOTB. Call them what you want, but they are back and, yielding to cliché, better than ever. Currently on their Casi-NO Tour the one-time mega popular boy band recently returned to Chicago where they played three sold out dates at The Venue, located in the Horseshoe Casino, in Hammond, Indiana. Though the actual venue is plenty large enough to accommodate big-name acts – and does with regularity – I half expected the New Kids’ set to be scaled down with minimal props and lighting. However, that was not the case at all. A large riser took center stage while a wall of lights that would constantly change per beat stood as the backdrop. The show was big, and the band was jammin’, thanks to a Chicago-based drummer and a guitarist who looked like he’d fit in better with Slayer.  

 

Jordan Knight, Donny Wahlberg and Joey McIntyre took turns singing the leads just as they have always done, only this time with more mature and seasoned vocals. They would later take turns performing their own solo numbers in which Joey sang a steamy rendition of the Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams”. Danny Wood and Jonathan Knight contributed with perfectly tuned harmonies and backing vocals to round out the New Kids’ sound, while also busting some very impressive moves.

 

NKOTB did not disappoint the crowd that was mostly comprised of 25 to 35-year-old women, playing a set that included “The Right Stuff”, “Step By Step”, “Full Service”, “Favorite Girl” and their ever so popular ballad, “I’ll Be Loving You”. The dancing was well choreographed and even better – youthful and fun. The boys also played an acoustic set with Danny taking on the guitar in which “Please Don’t Go Girl” set the mood along with the soft, light-filled curtain that fell behind them.

 

One concert highlight was when all five New Kids’ walked through the crowd, still singing and waving their arms through the air. Once in the swarm of fans, the five separated, making themselves accessible to most of the main level while Donny took it up a notch and headed closer to the rear of the venue where he balanced on a seat with the help of a few eager helpers.

 

The night finally came to a close, but not before NKOTB performed one of their top hits, “Hangin’ Tough”, ending the show on a high note and sending the fans home asking when the tour would hit Chicago again.          

 

  

The weather was in question with thunderstorms almost certain to blanket Chicago the entire night. Still, the ominous report of storm-like conditions didn’t keep the fans from coming out in droves to see classic rockers Kansas, Foreigner and Styx at the outdoor concert venue, Charter One Pavilion, located between downtown and the lake on Northerly Island. On the way to the venue, the rain was light but threatening. Men, tried hard to keep their dates dry, but were often seen batting their heads in the process of balancing the umbrellas over their heads more so than their own. When arriving at the gate, everyone was told to leave his or her umbrellas behind in which a flimsy poncho was given for protection from the rain. Those umbrellas were not to be seen again by their rightful owners. 

 

Kansas was the first act to play and had to do so during only a light, warm mist. It seemed the weather was beginning to cooperate. Rich Williams patented guitar sound cut through the stadium taking the crowd back to the 1970’s when such a tone was such a familial earful for many and a time traveling expedition for others. Playing such notables as “Point of Know Return” and “Dust in the Wind”, Kansas got the dampened audience in the rock and roll spirit before sending them to the next band up, Foreigner, with their ultra-classic “Carry On My Wayward Son”.

 

When Foreigner took to the stage to the stage the rain had disappeared and the air was balmy, setting a perfect picture for an evening concert. Kelly Hansen’s vocals were spot on while guitarist Mick Jones went from one song to the other with effortless perfection. The band churned out one favorite after another including “Urgent”, “Hot Blooded”, “Feels Like the First Time”, “Cold As Ice” and “Double Vision” before ending on a triumphant note with a commanding performance of “Juke Box Hero” accompanied by fun animations of a cartoon band on the backdrop.

 

Styx then followed and began their set with an instrumental medley of their songs including, “Mr. Roboto”. Somewhere in their 7-8 minute opening number, the weather began to shift in which a gentle rain began to fall and light gusts of wind made themselves known from out of nowhere. However, both band and crowd didn’t skip a beat and the concert continued. Styx went into “Grand Illusion” before changing the tempo with the more upbeat “Too Much Time on My Hands” from their Paradise Theater album. In the meantime, the rain would take turns falling heavily until everyone scrambled to put their ponchos on, then, just as they were somewhat secured, almost come to a complete stop. Styx ignored the weather as the temperature suddenly dropped a good 15-20 degrees and the winds picked up. The rain also became steadier as the band played “Lady” and Tommy Shaw went into “High Enough” from his days with Damn Yankees. By the time James Young got to front the vocals for “Miss America” the rain was falling sideways and a crew of three members was trying to hold the swaying overhead speakers in place from the gusting winds. At the same time, the stage lights were also swinging from left to right. Heavy airstreams made it difficult to provide cover from the rain and ponchos were seen flying through the air like kites in failed attempts at putting them on one’s self spread like an epidemic. Just as the song ended, probably about a third through their set, Shaw announced to the crowd that the authorities that be were calling it a night and thanked everyone for sticking around as long as they did.  

 

It was a gutsy performance but the weather finally won. Bottlenecks of people traffic made the mass exodus a very sluggish process, and the non-agreeable climate made the walk to the Red Line even slower.