Chicago & Styx Remind Us Why Live Music Still Matters
- Alexis Whitfield
- 8 hours ago
- 3 min read
Everything about the Chicago/Styx Windy Cities Tour felt like stepping into an arena in the 1980s.
The first act of the night was Chicago. This was my first time seeing them after having grown up on their music and I was so surprised at how much fun I had. The first part of the show consisted of the more jam-band style of playing, and the fun that the band had while playing on stage immediately radiated through the fans. I genuinely could not tell if the fans were having more fun at the show or if the band was. The lead singer, Rudy Cardenas, was one of the most natural performers I’ve ever seen. He looked so comfortable and free on stage, regularly interacting with the fans during songs, even mimicking the dances that fans were doing in the crowd to each song.
Halfway through the set, they switched to the more classic songs from the 80s and moved away from the jam band vibes. They played songs like “You’re the Inspiration” and “Hard Habit to Break” alongside many of their most popular songs. The only original member of the band to continue touring, Lee Loughnane, took center stage at one point in the show to talk about how they started out as a band: “In the clubs like everyone else!”. He used this to introduce their cover of Jackie Wilson’s “(Your love keeps lifting me) Higher and Higher”, saying that their fans loved singing along to the song, which ultimately became a fan favorite throughout their career. There was something undeniably full-circle about watching these songs being performed decades after they first found their way into people's lives. Nearly six decades later, it’s incredible that we still get to experience this beautiful and iconic piece of rock history.
When Styx came on stage, the vibes visibly shifted in the room. Everyone in the crowd knew exactly what to expect for the energy they were obligated to give back to the band while they performed and executed it perfectly. Somehow during every song, Styx got more excited, dancing along even harder to the next song than the last. I have to give the proper kudos to the keyboardist, Lawrence Gowan. Every time I looked over at him, he was doing something absolutely wild while playing. At one point, he was kicking the piano, spinning it around back and forth around the raised platform (it was supposed to do that, don’t worry). However, while spinning it, he was also dancing around and even ended up playing the keys with his hands behind his back not even looking at the piano! This is honestly the level of expertise I should have expected from such a legendary band.
Towards the end of the show, the band brought one of the original founding members of Styx, Chuck Panozzo, on stage to play the last few songs of the set with them. You could tell that the audience really understood the assignment during these songs and were yelling and hyping him up the whole time. The first song he played with the band was “Come Sail Away” and it was truly a mesmerizing experience. The entire arena sounded like a choir while singing along, to the point that you couldn’t really hear the band over the crowd. It sent full chills down my spine.
This show overall was such a fun change from the normal concert experience in 2026. For the majority of the show, no one had their phones out filming. It was the first concerts I’ve been to since I was a teenager where I wasn’t just looking into a sea of phones and it was SO refreshing. Every time I looked out into the crowd, I saw people dancing, singing, and completely losing themselves in songs that had soundtracked their youth. For the first time in a while, I was reminded just how powerful a live music experience can be when everyone in the room is living in the moment.
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