ROGUE WANDERER: \u2018Old Days\u2019 with Chicago on the Jacksonville hillside<\/p>\n
Published 7:00 am Thursday, September 4, 2025<\/p>\n
\n By PEGGY DOVER \/ for the Rogue Valley Times<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cOld days\u2028Good times I remember\u2028Fun days\u2028Filled with simple pleasures<\/p>\n Drive-in movies\u2028Comic books and blue jeans\u2028Howdy doody\u2028Baseball cards and birthdays<\/p>\n Take me back\u2028To a world gone away\u2028Memories\u2028Seem like yesterday\u201d<\/p>\n \u2014 Chicago 1975 \u201cOld Days\u201d<\/p>\n Somewhere in a garage cupboard far, far away, there sits a few precious memory-makers from the 1970s. The vinyl albums I collected during that time were able to transport me out of a teenage funk and reveal a world of possibilities. I am not alone in this. Though \u201cHowdy Doody\u201d was a bit before my time, I do remember drive-in movies and Levi\u2019s 501 jeans.\u00a0<\/p>\n On Tuesday night, Lane and I went back to a yesterday world surrounded by a large gaggle of others. The band Chicago stopped along their incredible 58-year journey and wowed a sold-out crowd on the Britt Hill in Jacksonville.\u00a0<\/p>\n Though we heard them there three years ago, our seats left much to be desired since we\u2019re huge fans of their jazz-rock signature sound. This year, thanks to a dear friend, we sat and absorbed the music in the center of the center section with reserved seats. We could see their facial expressions and watch them play. It was a warm night of nostalgic exhilaration.\u00a0<\/p>\n Three of the founding members continue to thrill multi-generational audiences: Robert Lamm on keyboards and vocals, Lee Loughnane on trumpet, and (smiling) James Pankow on trombone.\u00a0<\/p>\n These dudes still have the wind to sing and blow horns! It\u2019s mind-boggling. And they do a two-set concert night after night. They stirred up fans in Santa Rosa, California, on Wednesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n And the percussionists. Oh, my word.\u00a0<\/p>\n They had a special session between the two of them that would have taxed far younger men. Walfredo Reyes, their lead drummer for 13 years, lost his percussionist father, Walfredo de los Reyes Sr., just a few days ago. His dad was a huge influence on him as a man and percussionist, having been a prominent musician in Cuba. I\u2019m sure a proud papa looked down at his son. I had the opportunity to interview a very friendly Walfredo Jr. about three years ago for the column. You don\u2019t want to miss these.\u00a0<\/p>\n I was slightly unnerved for a good portion of the concert as I gazed around me, most everyone looked old. I wondered what I was doing among them. Oh, I have gray hair and my birth certificate makes it painfully clear I\u2019m no longer 17, but hearing the old tunes takes me back to my bedroom, my sanctuary in Phoenix, Arizona, with a tambourine in my hand. Now I needed to play my air tambourine and move without toppling over.\u00a0<\/p>\n I think it was Lee who motioned for us all to stand up. In the \u201970s we wouldn\u2019t have needed directions, but thank goodness I finally had an excuse to stop sitting with my sore back propped up on cushions and move the body.\u00a0<\/p>\n My seatmates agreed and as I looked around, miraculously, everyone else had become teenagers, too. They overrode their lumbago and danced to the iconic tunes we all love. It\u2019s a unique experience to stand with 2,199 other likeminded individuals in creative solidarity.\u00a0<\/p>\n Thank you, Britt Music & Arts Festival for offering this banquet of sound all summer long.\u00a0<\/p>\n Music unites us when conversation fails. Live music is like a caravan moving us from one point in life to the next. Sometimes we get to revisit favorite oases and sit (or dance) around a campfire for a time. Chicago is one group who helps us understand the longevity of good music. It\u2019s utterly timeless.\u00a0<\/p>\n Alisha, a new acquaintance next to me, wore her father\u2019s 1985 Chicago tour T-shirt for the occasion. She sang and swayed. She hooted and hollered with the best of us.\u00a0<\/p>\n Good news continues as I cast an eye over the coming forecast, kiddies. We may kick hot weather sailing for a long, long time very soon. Next Monday\u2019s relief looks like 70s and rain! I think you\u2019ll remember it when you see it. Yeah, I\u2019m a webfoot.<\/p>\n