by Alex Lloyd Gross
It was a day late, but the concert happened. Styx and Chicago at the Freedom Mortgage Pavillion happened yesterday, due to a weather postponement. Both bands hail from Chicago, The Windy City so someone named it “The Windy Cities Tour”. With recent headlines of performers showing up late, it was refreshing to hear the show was postponed, rather than have fans sitting in the rain, on wet grass for hours waiting for the show to start.
Alex Lloyd Gross Photo -Delaware Valley News.com Chicago put the horn section front and center.
Styx was up first. Going into the Styx show, a lot of people thought It would have been nice if they brought out “Light Up” and took out most of the Paradise Theater songs. Midway through the set, they dusted off “Light Up” and the crowd was pleasantly surprised. Paradise Theater has been over played. on radio, In spite of this ,those songs got a good crowd reaction.
They played most of their rockers like “Blue Collar Man”, “Come Sail Away” and of course “Lady” which was the fourth song in the set. When they brought out founding member Chuck Panozzo for a few songs, late in the set, it was a pleasant surprise.
Alex Lloyd Gross Photo- Delaware Valley News.com Lawrence Gowan from Styx.
Styx has a newer record out, called Circling From Above, and they did some material from that record, which has been out for about a year. Keyboard player Lawrence Gowan said in a previous interview, “We look out in the crowd and see lots of younger people at our shows, people that were not born yet when Styx is something new to them and we want people to be pleased and to come back and see us again”. When speaking about the new record, he stated, “At this point we just want to make music that we believe in. If we don’t like it, we don’t have to put it out”.
Chicago was up next and the difference between the two bands was clear as day. Chicago was known for their horn section that that was front and center. Classic line up of this band included Jimmy Pankow and Walt Parazaider It’s a shame that Walt passed away earlier this year and Pankow retired from touring. The band put up remembrances to those band members on a screen during their set.
Alex Lloyd Gross Photo Delaware Valley News.com Tommy Shaw from Styx.
The crowd for this show was mostly seated as most of these songs, such as “Old Days” and “If You Leave Me Now” are best enjoyed relaxing and sitting. That’s not to say the crowd remained sitting for long. During the last three songs, which include “Saturday In the Park, “Feelin Stronger Everyday” and “25 or 6 To 4” had the crowd on it’s feet.
Alex Lloyd Gross Photo Delaware Valley News.com 80percent of Styx on stage.
The horn section for Chicago was front and center. Lee Loughnane, (trumpet) is the only original member of the band left. To those in attendance in Camden last night, that fact did not matter. They came to hear classics and they did.
One interesting fact is that keyboardist Loren Gold left the band to tour with Rush and was replaced with Justin Avery. Should The Windy Cities Tour blow anywhere near your town, go see it, It’s money well spent.