Chicago Plays Old and New at Ravinia

is a band unlike any other. 

Making only its second appearance this past weekend the group thrilled an enthusiastic audience in its opening night performance Saturday with music from its past and present. Its Ravinia debut was in 1972.

Exciting a sold out pavilion and lawn full of fans who have grown into middle age with them and people who have come to know them in more recent years, Chicago played not only for the audience but to help fight breast cancer. 

Though not publicized beforehand, half of the band’s receipts from its performance go to charity. Chicago has had a history of generosity from its inception in the late 1960’s not limited to sharing receipts. That was a rare bonus for a 14-year old singer from South Bend Saturday. 

“If you go to our website Chicagotheband.com you can bid to sing a song with us,” band member Robert Lamm said. “The only problem is you have to get up here and sing. Tonight, singing in the bidder’s stead is Isabela Nanni.” 

With that Nanni, who was also the opening act, came on stage to sing “If You Leave Me Now” fully accompanied by the guitars, brass, woodwinds and percussion of Chicago. Nanni sang well in before Chicago came on stage but she glowed with the band flowing with a performance she will likely remember forever. 

For most people the evening was about the music they remembered and loved. Chicago sang selections from some of their 32 albums. Twenty-Five have been certified platinum according to the Ravinia program notes. The band started the concert at the beginning of its career. 

“It was awesome, great horns,” said of “Make Me Smile.” The early Chicago song began the concert. The audience was immediately into the music and rhythm as couples danced at their seats when a particular song sparked a memory. 

While Chicago is known as a rock band, music by long time band members Lee Loughnane on trumpet, James Pankow on trombone added a distinct big band 1930’s feel to some of the songs.

Loughnane’s rendition of “Time” with a trumpet solo to start the second number of the concert opened with a slow, mournful sound only a classic trumpeter could do before the tempo increased and the rest of the band joined him. 

Chicago also made use of the Ravinia Pavilion screens unlike any other group this writer has seen over the summer. Mostly the camera scans from musician to musician giving the audience a close up of techniques. This time there was more. 

As the band began to sing “Old Days” the screens showed still shots of people and times from history. It started with former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, people at soup kitchens during the Great Depression, civil rights struggles and the damage from Hurricane Katrina. Then a portrait of President Barack Obama was displayed followed by images of former Presidents Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, and John F. Kennedy in that order. 

The screens were used for the presentation of “Conversations”—one of the band’s best known hits—showing a woman standing on a mountaintop, scenes of a shoreline and rapid flowing rivers as the audience clapped to the beat. 

Lauren and Jason Grace of Northbrook were impressed with the multimedia presentation of the song. “I love to listen to that song,” Jason said. “It brings back good times.” 

As the concert neared its end and Chicago began to play another of its memorable hits, “Saturday in the Park” the entire audience was on its feet clapping in tempo while many members of the crowd moved to the front near the stage standing there for the rest of the night. 

Everyone had their own story of the tunes like “Saturday in the Park” for Willa Hollman of Glenview. “It reminded me of songs growing up,” she said.