It may seem like Chicago is enjoying a career resurgence, but the brass-driven band has never taken a break substantial enough to be considered a hiatus. Chicago is one of the few acts that performed every year during the pandemic, playing The Venetian in 2020 right before the stages of the Strip went dark and returning to the concert circuit in June 2021.
“We are so blessed to have enjoyed a legacy that seems still to be a timeless one,” said trombonist and founding member James Pankow in a late-January interview with Las Vegas Magazine. “And it’s about this music. Never in our wildest dreams would we have expected this music to become so much of a soundtrack (to the lives) of millions and millions of people. We are, over a half a century later, doing sell-out business. People can’t get enough of this stuff.”
“This stuff” started out when Chicago college students Pankow, saxophonist Walter Parazaider, trumpet player Lee Loughnane, keyboardist Robert Lamm and guitarist Terry Kath teamed up with drummer Danny Seraphine to form a band that would become Chicago Transit Authority. Bassist Peter Cetera completed the band’s classic lineup, and they released their debut in 1968.
Songs such as Lamm’s “Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?” and “Questions 67 and 68” continue to be part of sets today of the band that shortened its name to Chicago by 1969. Political activism was a priority at the time, but the jazz-rock arrangements that characterized Chicago’s songs became the signature sound that Pankow remains proud of to this day.
Pankow composed hits such as “Just You ‘N’ Me” and “(I’ve Been) Searchin’ So Long,” as well as the suite “Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon,” which included classics such as “Make Me Smile” and “Colour My World.” Kath, who passed away in 1978, provided the original vocals on most of those tracks.
Now vocals are provided by Neil Donell, Loren Gold and Lamm. Parazaider has retired, but Pankow and Loughnane have no shortage of energy to apply to Chicago and The Venetian.
“I believe this is our eighth residency, and it’s just gotten better and better and better,” said Pankow. “We feel very much at home in The Venetian. It’s a wonderful property. We get treated so well and it’s such a beautiful showroom. Anybody would love to perform in the Venetian Theater. It’s just perfect acoustically; ambience through the roof. There’s not a bad seat in the house.”
It’s also the perfect staging point for Chicago’s 2024 tour with Earth, Wind & Fire. The bands have created a strong touring bond in the past few years, although Pankow has found the show-ending all-star jams a bit hazardous due to EW&F bassist Verdine White’s physical stage performances. Still, he says, those risks are worth taking. “We do a finale with both bands onstage, and it is amazing,” said Pankow. “We’re going to be all over the country this summer, and we hope to see everybody when we’re in their town.”
The Venetian, 8 p.m. Feb. 21, 23-24 and 28, starting at $49.95 plus tax and fee. ticketmaster.com
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