Chicago (Chicago Theatre)

TR arrived on stage promptly at 7:30 with his voice froggies still intact. He did manage to exorcise most of the froggies by about the third or fourth tune. I thought "Parallel Lines" was the standout from his set. He thanked Chicagoans for taking care of his son Rex while he plays "A" ball with the Kane County Cougars about 45 minutes out of the city. He also recalled many New Year's Eve shows he did here in the '80s. "Rock Love" was performed with gusto and had the crowd primed.

H&O does perform a solid set. DH appeared to have a small case of the froggies himself but not nearly as bad as Todd's. They managed a great groove with "I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)" with that T-Bone bass player really crankin'. DH actually does pretty good white boy rap as well during that tune. "One On One" as sappy as it is...sounded great. No doubt about it the man can sing.

The encore was really fun. It was very apparent that TR and especially DH were having a blast. Seeing TR at the keyboards playing and singing "Can We Still Be Friends" (alternating verses with DH) was worth the price of admission for me.

Both acts remarked that this was their first indoor show of the tour. The Chicago Theatre is a well upholstered theatre which can lead to "muddy" acoustics. I thought the sound lacked "bite" and volume. It seemed to improve toward the end though.

Catch this show if you can as TR and H&O compliment each other nicely.