REO and Chicago in Cincinnati Reviewed

CHICAGO launched their big U.S. summer tour this past weekend with two triumphant shows in California with REO Speedwagon, who will be performing two dozen shows together through September 9. The CHICAGO-REO tour launched July 31 at the Concord Pavilion just outside San Francisco and hit a capacity Greek Theatre in Los Angeles Friday, August 1.

 

After CHICAGO closed the show Friday night, both bands got together for a big, six-song blow-out encore which featured a dozen musicians trading the spotlight on three songs from each artist: REO’s “Riding The Storm Out,” “Keep On Loving You” and “Roll With The Changes” and CHICAGO’s “Free,” “Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is” and “25 or 6 to 4.” In a review of the tour’s third night in Phoenix, AZ, Examiner.com said, “As good as REO Speedwagon and CHICAGO were individually, it was Chicago Speedwagon that brought the house down…For the next thirty minutes, it was one jaw dropping moment after another…For fans of REO Speedwagon and Chicago, seeing each group alone would have been a great night. But if you’re a fan of both groups, the last 30 minutes of the show were spine tingling. It’s been a long wait. Long live Chicago Speedwagon.”

 

CHICAGO celebrated the release of their new album NOW: CHICAGO XXXVI while on tour in Europe, and were excited to see it hit the Billboard Top 200 Album chart-exactly 45 years to the week of the release of their debut album, Chicago Transit Authority. The new album was released in the U.S. via Frontiers Music Srl and captures the band-adored by generations of fans since they formed in 1967-at their “rock with horns” best.

 

The band–founding members ROBERT LAMM (keyboard, guitars, vocals), LEE LOUGHNANE (trumpet, guitar, percussion, vocals), JAMES PANKOW (trombone, percussion, keyboards, vocals), WALTER PARAZAIDER (woodwinds, backing vocals) along with JASON SCHEFF (bass, vocals), TRIS IMBODEN (drums, percussion), KEITH HOWLAND (guitars, vocals), LOU PARDINI (keyboards, vocals) and WALFREDO REYES, Jr., (percussion)-recorded the album on “The Rig,” their custom-made state-of-the-art mobile studio. Penned by Robert Lamm, “More Will Be Revealed” is an uptempo signature CHICAGO song, replete with powerful horns and an immediately catchy funk groove.

 

The tour with R.E.O. SPEEDWAGON includes an upcoming August 9 show in Chicago as well as New York-area shows August 16 at PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, NJ and August 17 at Jones Beach in Wantagh, NY. Tour dates can be found here: http://www.chicagotheband.com/tour.html 

 

“NOW” CHICAGO XXXVI is available via Amazon here http://smarturl.it/CGO_Amz_Preorder, iTunes: http://georiot.co/chicagonow and on the band’s website here: http://chicago-now.com/ 

 

Check out the album’s EPK here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOH5g4s_V7k 

 

Originally formed as the CHICAGO TRANSIT AUTHORITY in 1967, the band found almost immediate success and have become a bona fide institution of American music. Their signature sound of solid rock songs augmented by the best horns in the business has endeared them to several generations of music fans. Hit singles include “If You Leave Me Now,” “Saturday In The Park,” “Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is,” “Feelin’ Stronger Every Day,” “25 or 6 to 4,” “Beginnings,” “I’m A Man,” “Hard To Say I’m Sorry,” “(I’ve Been) Searching So Long,” “Look Away,” “Just You And Me” and “Old Days,” among others. The band has accumulated a total of 47 gold and platinum records awards and their Chicago Transit Authority album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame this year. Chicago, the first American rock band to chart Top 40 albums in six decades, came in at #13 in Billboard magazine’s list of Top 100 artists of all time, the highest-charting American band.

 

 

With REO SPEEDWAGON:

Fri 8/15	Hartford, CT	XFINITY Theatre
Sat 8/16	Holmdel, NJ	PNC Bank Arts Center
Sun 8/17	Wantagh, NJ	Nikon @ Jones Beach
Tue 8/19	Saratoga Springs, NY	Saratoga PAC
Wed 8/20	Boston, MA	Blue Hills Bank Pavilion
Fri 8/22	Atlantic City, NJ	Borgata Events Center
Sat 8/23	Raleigh, NC	Walnut Creek Amp.
Sun 8/24	Atlanta, GA	Chastain Park Amp.
Tue 8/26	Durant, OK	Choctaw Events Center
Wed 8/27	Cedar Park, TX	Cedar Park Center
Fri 8/29	Houston, TX	Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
Sat 8/30	Oklahoma City, OK	Downtown Airpark
Sun 8/31	Dallas, TX	Gexa Energy Pavilion
Tue 9/9	Puyallup, WA	Washington State Fair