Chicago's 'Live at 55' gives fans a chance to celebrate 55 years of hits

Chicago threw a 55th anniversary party a year ago in Atlantic City, with a little help from some friends. And the new Live at 55 gives fans a chance to join in the celebration.

Billed in Chicago & Friends, Live at 55 (out Friday, Nov. 22 via Mercury Studios) captures the epic 31-song performance — filmed over two nights in front of 10,000 fans at the Ocean Casino Resort — in a variety of video and audio formats. Both shows in the band's current incarnation featured guest vocalists (Chris Daughtry, Robin Thicke, Judith Hill, VoicePlay) and guitarists (Steve Vai, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram) as well as pedal steel virtuoso Robert Randolph. The brassy group's five and a half decades of hits are well represented, and there's no doubt that the additional personnel added a bit more octane to the performances.

“It was interesting because we don't usually have guest artists, let alone seven of them,” says trumpeter Lee Loughnane, one of three founding members (along with keyboardist Robert Lamm and trombonist James Pankow) still active in Chicago. Bulletin board. “The variety and different flavors of their styles was quite different from what we've done before. It was really interesting to see and hear how they combined their expertise with what we've been doing for decades, so it was really cool that it all came together.

“It took a lot of work to put it all together, but we'll do whatever it takes to make the show the best it can be.”

Loughnane has trouble pinpointing specific favorite moments, but notes that Vai, who is currently touring with the King Crimson Beat tribute band, “was very well prepared,” while Daughtry “was so good it was like the beat. “This will work great!” kind of thing.”

Vai, who played on the rarely performed 'South California Purples' and 'Poem 58' as well as the all-cast finale '25 or 6 to 4', adds that, 'The songs gave me a nostalgic hernia. I was a teenager in the decade. 70's and their music was all over the radio.I loved it and it introduced me to insanely great guitar playing by Terry Kath… I approached the songs with the idea of ​​honoring his powerful energy, exploratory nature and visceral approach.

“What was most surprising to me about the concert was how well it sounded on my inner ear monitors. These horns were shiny, impressively tuned and tight. It was an honor and a real pleasure.”

Kingfish, who joined Chicago for parts of the “Ballet For a Girl in Buchannon” suite (including “Make Me Smile” and “Colour My World”), was not particularly familiar with Chicago before the concerts, but says that he was still “well aware of their catalog and the way they combined rock and jazz” and welcomed the chance to immerse himself a bit.

“It was a really cool time,” he recalls. “The band was so easy to work with. I've not only met, but spent time with many great musicians whose music I enjoy.”

Live at 55 It was directed by Brian Lockwood and produced by Barry Summers. It was released in North American theaters in April.

The shows celebrated the anniversary of Chicago's debut Chicago Transit Authority album (the group changed its name a little later), which turned 55 years old on April 28 of this year. The two-LP set was on the Billboard 200 for 171 weeks, a new record at the time, was certified double platinum, and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2014, on its 45th anniversary. Chicago also received a Grammy Award for Best New Artist.

“It feels like a long tour – that's pretty much it,” Loughnane says of the time. “You and I talk now, you name it when it started, the first album, and it's like 'Sssssssssshop!, here we are!' Almost instantly. A lot of things couldn't have happened the way they did – but they did. We live it, you know?”

Since then, Chicago has released 25 more studio albums and scored 28 top 20 hits on the Billboard Hot 100. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015 and received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020. He's survived through commercial ebbs and flows, while the guitarist Terry Kath accidentally shot himself in 1978 and bassist Peter Cetera left, acrimoniously, in 1985. Saxophonist Walt Parazaider, meanwhile, retired in 2017 for health reasons.

“The faces have changed. that's to be expected after all this time,” notes Lamm. “This is our life's work and we still love doing it. Every time someone leaves, we find someone new and it continues… because we still want to play this (music).”

Loughnane adds that, “It's a testament to the music and the players coming in are not only great players, but it's obvious that they listened to our music and enjoyed it growing up. And as we brought in people, they brought in their own take on what they want it to sound like. I just enjoyed every guy that came in and helped us continue the career.

“The big bands, the Count Basies and the Duke Ellingtons, went until they dropped,” explains Loughnane. “They kept working until they didn't make it and passed on to the next life, if there is such a thing, and there are still versions of those bands out there playing their music. They never stopped. That certainly impressed us.”

Chicago toured over the summer with Earth, Wind & Fire and also played at the Venetian Resort Las Vegas, where it was the longest-running residency in the venue's history, selling more than 80,000 tickets over the past seven years. Chicago will return there for a further nine dates starting February 28. In September he delved into his archives for the live set Chicago at the John F. Kennedy Center For the Performing Arts, Washington DC (9/16/1971).

And new music could be coming soon according to Loughnane, after 2022 Chicago XXXVIII: Born For This Moment.

“Right now music is just being written,” says the trumpeter. “There's no plans for anything brand new right now, but I've got stuff I've been working on, and I'll go home and go into the studio and see what I've come up with. There's always music. We all write. We are all still creative. We can always make an album. It's just a matter of timing and timing and all the other aspects of putting an album together. But the ability is always there.”