Last Thursday found Red Rocks hosting a night of nostalgia with mixed results. The night began with a traffic nightmare getting into the park not seen by me at the venue since The Beach Boys played there in 2012 (and I got to A LOT of Red Rocks shows). This fanbase seems to have no sense of carpooling or rideshare which makes for long lines as showtime approaches.
While this was technically a double bill, Chicago took the “headlining slot” and let Brian Wilson take the stage first. Wilson’s band featured founding Beach Boys member Al Jardine and former member Blondie Chaplin and these men were the highlights of the set by a mile! That said, the entire band that surrounded Brian deserves a ton of credit as sadly he appeared virtually catatonic on stage. While I was taking photos he didn’t even look like he was playing the piano in front of him, it was a prop and nothing more. As they worked through a set of iconic songs of a time gone by, one thing was apparent, Mr. Wilson shouldn’t have been on that stage. His vocals were almost inaudible, and were it not for the band carrying him constantly the whole set would have been a disaster. He didn’t even address the audience and let the rest of the band do all the talking. The band does deserve their due, they were tight and on point, this crew was A+ in every way. Their vocal harmonies were also worthy of the highest praise as they did right by every song despite the genius behind them being all but checked out for the whole set.
I have to admit, I struggled with being honest in this review. I have nothing but respect and admiration for all the fantastic music Brian Wilson has graced us with over his storied career, but I truly found the whole thing disturbing. Wilson deserves better than what we saw on Thursday. Maybe it was an off night? I don’t know, but I felt I had be honest as he really shouldn’t have been on stage, in front of thousands of adoring fans, in his current condition. Was it about greed? Are there bills to pay? In the end it doesn’t matter, what we saw on Thursday tarnished the legacy of one of the great musical minds of the Rock and Roll era.
After I’d recovered from the shock that Wilson’s set brought on, Chicago came out with a commanding takeover of the vibe, and gave fans what they wanted! They not only were very accurate with the material musically, the vocals were impressive as well! They nailed all the hits as they worked though a set of FM radio classics. “Call On Me,” “Good Bye,” and “Hard Habit & Inspiration” were met with pure joy as people sang along at full volume. I was personally touched when they played “Beginnings,” a song I first heard played by my Uncle Bill Duff who passed away earlier this spring. In my mind he was there rocking out with me. Throughout the set they flexed their chops as the horns lead the way, but in the middle of playing “I’m A Man” the band went into a percussion breakdown that was a total blast! As they rounded out their set I got to hear “Saturday in The Park” which held the coveted “highlight of the set” crown for only a moment before being completely outdone by the encore rendition of “25 or 6 to 4,” which ended my night in satisfaction.
The night was a tale of two very different bands, and nostalgia was the gravity that held it all together.
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