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Jazz rock pioneers give a blank sheet of paper to their audience...
Ageing rockers may remember the first incarnation of Chicago, who back in the late sixties blended jazz and
rock and had several best-selling albums and singles.
Fast forward a decade and the band had reinvented themselves. Without guitarist Terry Kath who infamously had blown his brains out in
a gun accident in 1978, and with the brass section muted, they reinvented themselves with fluffy AOR at a time
when 'Rumours' period Fleetwood Mac was de rigeur.
Fast forward again to 2002 and a special concert in New York when TV listeners were allowed to call or email the set-list.
This is predictable enough with 'Beginnings' and '25 Or 6 To 4' from the earlier period, and 'If You Leave Me Now' from
the later.
This DVD is a straight lift from the TV show, with the addition of two songs that were not aired in the original broadcast.
The links
and phoned-in messages do become a little tedious on replay and the presentation veers towards cabaret at times.
A glance at the band's recent discography is also a certain indication of terminal decline: practically every recent release has been a live album.
As a celebration of a hugely successful band, this DVD is adequate enough, but 'treading water' and 'resting on laurels' (or more appropriately, former royalties) is what comes to mind most of all.
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Review by David Randall
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