Chicago delivers smooth show for Fresno’s dogged elevator music fans

Sometimes you just want to leave the grandchildren at your son’s place, have a nice sit on a bench and relax your way through 90 minutes of classic soft rock.

I don’t. But most of the thousands in attendance at Chicago’s Friday night Big Fresno Fair performance do. I’m sure I’ll get there someday.

“You look like you’re in pain,” my father said with a laugh about an hour into the show. We sat in his fancy seats, about 20 feet from the stage.

I wasn’t – not really. Chicago put on a pretty decent show. You don’t often see a band with such a prominent and energetic horn section. It’s remarkable that the three original members in Friday’s lineup still tour after 50 years in the same band.

Friday was also a homecoming for Lou Pardini, whose voice was crisp and warmly received. One person even held up a giant green sign reading: “LOUUUUU.” Pardini, a Fresno son, has had a prolific career as a songwriter and studio musician, working with big names like Elton John and Stevie Wonder. He joined Chicago permanently in 2009.

The band featured a lot of talented musicians trying really hard to entertain, but the material gets in the way. There’s no getting around the fact that most of the popular songs Chicago played Friday night start sound like they were the intro songs to a 1980s newscast. The guy playing saxophone for them is the guy who plays the music played in the background when you watch The Weather Channel. I am not joking. You can look it up.

The audience – and it was a packed house – remained seated for most of the first 45 minutes. I’ve seen more excitement at the fair’s table-setting exhibit. Don’t we stand and dance and jump around for live music?

In fairness, the energy was way up for the last half of the show. Saving it for the end, I see. Smart.

And how did they get Owen Wilson to play bass and sing for the band? That’s remarkable.

At one point, Owen Wilson threw a guitar pick that whizzed by my head. It sat on the floor unattended for about 90 seconds until Fresno County Supervisor Sal Quintero scooted his chair back a foot or so to pick it up. Again, I am not joking or exaggerating. I have witnesses.

OK, the musician’s name is Jeff Coffey. He was quite good. He had that Steve Perry falsetto voice going on – the kind that women who went through puberty in the early 1980s are into. He was about 25 feet away from me while he was letting that thing go. He about shattered my right eardrum on “Hard Habit To Break,” but it made for great harmonies.

Maybe I am being too harsh. You can enjoy a show from a seated position. I know that. Horns are fun. The musicianship was excellent. People cheered loudly after most of the songs. Yes, I will have “Saturday in the Park” stuck in my head all weekend.

The show wasn’t really meant for me, but the reaction from those who it was meant for was mostly positive. It’s always nice to see experts who have spent a lifetime (in Chicago’s case, almost two lifetimes) mastering their craft perform it live. And the next time I hear “Hard To Say I’m Sorry” in a hotel elevator, I will remember this night. That’s something, isn’t it?

This story was originally published October 6, 2017 at 10:33 PM with the headline "Chicago delivers smooth show for Fresno’s dogged elevator music fans."