Chicago - A&E Network Live By Request
Performance
Production
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Chicago - A&E Network Live By Request
Performance
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The days of Chicago Transit Authority may have ended after the release of their self titled debut album in 1969, when the real Chicago Transit Authority objected to the bands use of their name - supposedly because of the negative image these hippy rockers portrayed. However, the style and attitude of Chicago Transit Authority remained with the band even after they dropped the "transit authority" from their name, prior to the release of their second album, and carried on as what they have been known as ever since, simply, Chicago. Unfortunately this original style and attitude was eventually transformed into a new incarnation of Chicago, sometime during the early-1980s, when a string of slickly-produced albums, chock full of sappy power-ballads, gave them the chart-topping success that had been missing from their previous few albums. The days of aggressive rhythms, pulsating horns, powerhouse guitar, and soaring harmonies, had given way to overproduced, synthesizer-driven, Toto-rejects, which all but ignored their signature horn-driven sound. The one and only time I saw Chicago in concert was back in 1989, during their Chicago 19 tour, which was their first tour after founding bassist/vocalist Peter Cetera had left the band. It was a pretty entertaining concert because, much like this performance, they still played fairly faithful versions of many of their older classics, as long as you were willing to also sit through excruciating drivel like "You're The Inspiration", and "Love Me Tomorrow". Live By Request finds Chicago celebrating their 35th anniversary with this live performance on the A&E television network. This unique show features bands performing songs that have been requested by fans who are able to call the show and make their requests live on the air. The show was hosted by news personality and longtime Chicago fan, Mark Mcewen, who fielded the fans calls and provided plenty of in between song banter. Along with all of the fan call-ins, were numerous short pre-recorded segments from various celebrity fans including Jay Leno, Dick Clark, and the cast of The Sopranos. This was all kinda neat, and made for an interesting television special, but this DVD had the perfect opportunity to provide a "concert only" version of the band's performance, without all of the between song talk. It would have been simple too, since each of the between song segments were assigned their own tracks on the DVD. Will these producers ever learn!? The fans really came through with the song choices this night. The setlist basically ended up being Chicago's Greatest Hits Vol I, with a few newer songs thrown in for good measure. This is not all that surprising though, as I really doubt the band would have been able to play some obscure song from Chicago III, for instance. I'm pretty sure all of these "live requests" were all pre-approved before making it on the air, but I may be wrong. The current incarnation of Chicago still has four of the founding members left, including their entire original horn section of James Pankow, Lee Loughnane, and Walter Parazaider, as well as Robert Lamm on keyboards and vocals. The voice of Chicago, Peter Cetera, is no longer in the band, since he left to pursue a solo career in 1985. And WOW, what a solo career it has been. I wonder if he has been begging them to let him rejoin the band again. His great voice was sorely missed on some of his hits, but his replacements did an admirable job filling his shoes. Jason Scheff, who has been with the band since Cetera's departure, handled the lead vocals on most of Cetera's songs, and played some excellent bass guitar as well. His vocal style is eerily similar to Cetera's, but lacks a little bit of his depth and character. Guitarist Keith Howland sang the classic "Old Days", and he also turned in an excellent Cetera imitation. Howland would have made Terry Kath proud with his guitar performance this evening. His energized, spot-on versions of all of the classics, were what the fans wanted to hear. The highlight of the show was the back to back performances of "25 Or 6 To 4" and "Feelin' Stronger Every Day". The two "new" guys, Howland and Scheff, really shined on these songs and made them sound better than the original versions. I have to admit, I got goose bumps and a huge adrenaline rush during these fantastic performances. "Feelin' Stronger Every Day" has that same energizing effect as the "Theme From Rocky" had, it makes you want to go out and run a decathlon, or something similarly crazy. As good as these youngster's performances were, the horn section is what really stole the show. These old guys sound better than ever, and they played with genuine enthusiasm. James Pankow was particularly into the performance that night, as he cheerfully chatted with the host and several of the callers between songs, and then strutted around the stage blowing his trombone like it was 1976 again. This was in direct contrast to the tired performance Robert Lamm gave. He just appeared to be in a daze all night, and it was all he could do to fake enthusiasm for the reverent fans who called in with requests. Bill Champlin looked completely burned out, or strung out, who knows what is ailing him these days, but his vocals on "Dialogue (Part I & II)" and "Make Me Smile" were just embarrassingly bad. Being that this video was transferred from a television broadcast, the picture looked pretty much like you were watching a television special, which for the most part is a good thing. It was exceptionally clear and sharp, and there was no significant graininess. Everything was a little too television-friendly for my taste though - the studio was too brightly lit, there was no real concert lighting used, and the colors were very conservative. You surely did not feel like you were watching a concert, but then again it was never advertised as that. The audio faired pretty well here. The Dolby 5.1 soundtrack provided an excellent spacious surround environment, since the rear speaker output was almost as dominant as the fronts. The instrument separation and clarity was decent, but did not match some of the better modern concert recordings. The bass was virtually non-existent on many of the songs, and the horns should have been mixed more up front. Other than this, it was a very satisfying mix, considering the source. Seeing these great, classic Chicago songs performed faithfully, by what remains of this band, really made me yearn for some real Chicago concert footage. Hell, I'd even settle for some recent concert footage, but I still yearn for that lost, 1972, Live In Japan video footage to surface one day. Reviewed by Paul M. Roy - August 2004 |
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Running Time: 93 Minutes |
DVD Release Date - October 2003 |