Chicago hadn't played Pittsburgh in four years, and that concert at the First Niagara Pavilion was a washout not just sonically but also with the weather.
Tuesday's show at the Trib Amphitheatre was a completely different story. First, the heavy rains forecast held off.
And then the band turned it on.
It was especially gratifying to see all the original members of the horn section back performing, as in the previous few shows in Pittsburgh it had utilized at least one ringer; I truly believe that their presence made a difference. I detected a bit more drive and energy than in some previous performances from what is now a nine-piece band.
One of the members said at the beginning, "We're going to do music from our entire career." That turned out to be a fib, as the most recent material was from 1984's "Chicago 17."
But no matter. As usual, Chicago opened up with "Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon," trombonist Jimmy Pankow's classical-inspired suite that includes its breakout hit "Make Me Smile" and the classic "Colour My World," on which trumpeter Lee Loughnane did the vocal this time around. In the process the band slowed down two movements, the waltzing "West Virginia Fantasies" and the stand-up, driving "To Be Free" -- just before and after "Colour My World" respectively -- which allowed the tunes to breathe and groove a little bit more.
And while the audience heard almost exclusively hit songs, too many to mention here, Chicago did come up with some surprises from the Peter Cetera era. One was "Baby, What a Big Surprise" (featuring Mr. Loughnane on piccolo trumpet), which I don't think it had done since it became a hit in the late 1970s. Another that shocked ... shocked me was the funky "Along Comes a Woman," although I found myself wishing that Mr. Cetera's replacement, bassist Jason Scheff, had used some slapping technique on the instrumental interlude.
Other than several movements of the "Ballet," the band performed only one song that was never released as a single -- the lyrically bright shuffle "Wake Up Sunshine," from the second album, taking the key up a step-and-a-half.
The concert also represented Chicago's first visit to Pittsburgh with new keyboardist/vocalist Lou Pardini, who replaced Bill Champlin in 2009. Mr. Pardini was a far better fit, primarily because the timbre of Mr. Pardini's voice more resembled that of original guitarist Terry Kath. Mr. Pardini, in a switch, was featured on the Latin-oriented "Call on Me" (Mr. Cetera had done the studio version).
For the past couple of years, Chicago has been raising money for the American Cancer Society by auctioning off an opportunity to sing lead on "If You Leave Me Now." A fan named Amanda Miller got to do the honors Tuesday night, and she started off by taking the first line an octave up, perhaps due to nervousness, but settled down.
If I had a criticism of the performance, the horns seemed to be mixed too far down throughout but especially during "Dialogue Parts 1 and 2." Also, the standard encore "25 or 6 to 4" came across just a tad sloppy, almost jamming.
Zig Daniels, a singer-guitarist from the band the Delaneys, opened the concert with covers and originals, offering Stealers Wheel's "Stuck in the Middle With You," the Five Man Electrical Band's "Signs" and his own "Sad Songs" and "Last June." He also had one of his buddies sing on the Beatles' "Ticket to Ride."
First Published: May 26, 2011, 8:00 a.m.
