Although they had a few big hits here, Chicago has never been the mega band in the Netherlands that they still are in America in 2014. More than a hundred million records were sold by this company that named itself after their home port. Originated in 1967, they made a number of groundbreaking fusion albums with a leading role for the extensive copper section, after which they moved more towards
… soft rock in the eighties, with the biggest Dutch hit being the shuffling classic If You Leave Me Now. As a unified group of well-preserved men (although hairdresser and stylist seem to have stuck in the 1980s) they triumphed in their hometown in 2010 at a concert with the Doobie Brothers. Chicago is musically on a roll, the city skyline is impressive and the audience is delirious, but atmosphere does not really want to come on the immense stage where the band members are meters away from each other. Low point is the elderly fan who has bought himself (for a good cause) to sing excruciatingly out of tune If You Leave Me Now. It only gets cozy when the Doobie Brothers join them for a few steamy encores. (MR)more
