Two-wars strategy doomed U.S. prospects in Iraq and Afghanistan, Gen. Petraeus tells World Leaders Forum

By Tom Siebert

Retired four-star Army Gen. David Petraeus, who led U.S. and coalition forces in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, said Friday night that shifting military resources from one country to the other in 2003 led to failure on both fronts.

“We did not get the inputs right in Afghanistan,” said Petraeus, speaking before Judson University’s World Leaders Forum at the Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center. “The leadership of our country very quickly focused on Iraq. We devoted our attention to that. Then that went badly.”

The 37-year military veteran did not directly criticize then-President Donald J. Trump’s agreement in February 2020 to withdraw American troops from Afghanistan, nor President Joseph R. Biden’s decision to carry out the mission last August, resulting in the collapse of the government and takeover by the Taliban terrorist militia.

 

“It was absolutely chaotic, and certainly not the way that those of us who served in that war would have wanted to see it end,” Petraeus told an audience of about 500 veterans, active military personnel, Judson students, faculty, and community members.

 

The general lamented the loss of 13 U.S. troops and 169 Afghan civilians killed by an Islamic State suicide bomber at the Kabul airport on August 26. But he praised the American-led airlift that rescued 123,000 people from the war-ravaged country.

 

Petraeus admitted that the Afghan war was unwinnable but would have preferred a “sustainable commitment” to the country to solidify U.S. gains in countering terrorism, building infrastructure, establishing press freedoms, and guaranteeing women’s rights.

 

“But at the end of the day, we ran out of strategic patience,” he concluded. “It was tragic.”

 

As for Iraq, the 69-year-old Petraeus defended the 2007 counterinsurgency, colloquially called “the surge,” in which he commanded the deployment of 20,000 additional soldiers to prop up government troops and quell terrorist attacks in the four-year-old war.

 

“Iraq was completely out of control,” he recounted. “Nation building gets some criticism from time to time but it’s absolutely essential.”

 

According to the U.S. Dept. of Defense, 2,401 U.S. troops died in the 20-year war in Afghanistan, while 4,431 American service members were killed in the 18-year war in Iraq.

 

Human rights organizations estimate that more than 170,000 Afghans and 180,000 Iraqis died in the two wars.

 

Petraeus also recalled his 14-month tenure as CIA director under President Barack Obama, highlighting the capture and killing of 9/11 mastermind Osama Bin Laden in May 2011.

 

“I spent ten years of my life chasing that guy,” Petraeus said of the Al-Qaeda terrorist group leader who organized the hijackings of four U.S. airliners, two of which crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City, one into the Pentagon, and another into a field in Shanksville, PA. The coordinated attacks killed 2,977 people on Sept. 11, 2001.

 

The World Leaders Forum, which is celebrating its tenth anniversary, usually convenes at Judson’s Elgin campus, except when audience capacity exceeds its smaller Herrick Chapel.

 

Television reporter Lisa Chavarria of NBC 5 in Chicago moderated Friday night’s discussion, while Petraeus was interviewed by conservative commentator Mark Vargas, a 2004 graduate of the university and president of the forum.

 

Previous speakers at the forum were former President George W. Bush; ex-Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev; former British Prime Minister Tony Blair; ex-Mexican President Felipe Calderón; Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan; author, attorney, and diplomat Caroline Kennedy; and jointly, former U.S. Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and ex-Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, who also served as chair of the Democratic National Committee.

Over the past decade the forum also has heard from inspirational speakers such as evangelist Nick Vujicic, who was born without arms or legs; U.S. Olympic champion Mary Lou Retton; illusionist Jim Munroe; actor Terrence Howard; and Mark Cuban, host of ABC-TV’s “Shark Tank” and owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks.

Proceeds from the World Leaders Forum fund Judson's leadership scholars program, innovative entrepreneurial activities, and ongoing operational purposes.

The university is a fully accredited, private Christian institution representing the church at work in higher education. Nestled along the Fox River, 36 miles northwest of Chicago, Judson is home to more than 1,200 students from 43 states and more than 37 countries.

 

It offers degrees in more than 60 different majors and minors for traditional, graduate, and adult students, ranking consistently among the best regional universities in the Midwest by U.S. News & World Report. Judson has also been recognized as a "Christian College of Distinction."

 

 

Bob Dylan lives up to his legend in Chicago concert

    Bob Dylan recently performed at the Auditorium Theater in Chicago (photo by Anna Maurya).

By Tom Siebert

 

I am the least objective reviewer of a Bob Dylan concert, having devoted endless hours listening to his genius music since college days, having literally lived for his next album, and having now seen him live for the fifth time Wednesday night, along with nearly 4,000 faithful fans at the landmark Auditorium Theater in downtown Chicago.

The Shakespeare of song, who began this so-called Never Ending Tour in 1988, was forced to cancel its Japan dates in March 2020 due to the pandemic, but resumed it last Tuesday night in Milwaukee.

 

Mr. Dylan and his five-member band opened the Chicago show with "Watching the River Flow," a rollicking romp from 1971 whose lyrics perfectly describe our nation's current cold Civil War.

 

People disagreeing on just about everything

Makes you stop and all wonder why

Why only yesterday I saw somebody on the street

Who just couldn't help but cry

 

The similarly sign-of-the-times follow-up was the marching band boogie "Most Likely You'll Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine" from the classic 1966 album Blonde on Blonde.

 

One of Bob's many lost-love songs, he slowed down the tempo as if to comment on our conspiracy-crazed country:

 

You say you're sorry

For tellin' stories

That you know I believe are true

 

But despite the first two dusted-off numbers, this was no nostalgia nor greatest hits concert. Mr. Dylan and his band decidedly did not play "Like a Rolling Stone," which Rolling Stone magazine twice listed as number one among the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

 

Nor did he perform "Blowing in the Wind" and "The Times They Are A-Changing," which became anthems of the anti-war and civil rights movements of the 1960s.

 

And no longer does Bob the bard play in sold-out sports stadiums, where critics and fans alike would complain that his serrated vocals were indecipherable and his rearranged instrumentations turned every concert into the gameshow "Name That Tune."

 

No, that was not the showcase at the ornate Auditorium Theater, which was built in 1889 and owned since 1946 by nearby Roosevelt University. The Romanesque concert hall, a venerable venue for everyone from Teddy Roosevelt to The Doors, has been renovated many times over to acoustical perfection.

 

The Baby Boomer-heavy audience, which included some Dylan devotees in their 20s and 30s, was completely locked in as the folk-rock poet went on to perform 16 more clearly enunciated songs, most of them from his highly praised 2020 album Rough and Rowdy Ways, for which the tour has been renamed and billed to continue until 2024, according to concert posters plastered over venues at the next 19 U.S. dates through Dec. 2.

 

The initial new song was the introspective "I Contain Multitudes," demonstrating that the master still has the best words:

 

I'm just like Anne Frank, like Indiana Jones

And them British bad boys, the Rolling Stones

I go right to the edge, I go right to the end

I go right where all things lost are made good again

 

Next up was the stomping blues-rocker "False Prophet," featuring the brilliant interplay of guitarists Doug Lancio and Bob Britt as well as the solid bass work of Tony Garnier, stellar steel pedal of Donnie Herron, and understated drumming of Charley Drayton.

 

It would be easy to say that this is the best ensemble of musicians that Dylan has ever had accompanying him, unless one forgets that his previous back-up players have included Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers and The Band itself.

 

And speaking of prophets, Dylan had often been called one, that is, until the late 1970s and early 1980s when he was de-canonized for declaring himself a born-again Christian and putting out three contemporary gospel albums.

 

He later returned to secular songs, albeit some with continued biblical and apocalyptic imagery, and saying that the healing power of music itself was his guiding spiritual source.

 

At Wednesday night's show, Bob introduced practically all-new lyrics to "Gotta Serve Somebody" from the 1979 album Slow Train Coming, both Grammy Award winners. But he pointedly kept in the convicting chorus, suggesting that he is still a believer of some sort.

 

But you're gonna have to serve somebody

Yes, indeed, you're gonna have to serve somebody

Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord

But you're gonna have to serve somebody

 

For the record, Mr. Dylan has sold more than 125 million of them, won ten Grammys, and been awarded an Oscar, Golden Globe, Kennedy Center Honor, Presidential Medal of Freedom, Pulitzer Prize citation, and 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition."

 

"When I Paint My Masterpiece" from 1971 was a fitting song choice for the artist, who has published eight books of his drawings and paintings, and whose works have been displayed at major galleries.

 

It's also a bright signal that he is not ready for retirement. Dylan, 80, has survived drug addiction, relentless media scrutiny, stalker-like invasions of his personal privacy, and a devastating divorce that he sang about painfully in his 1974 magnum opus Blood on the Tracks.

 

And in the spring of 1997, Bob was knock, knock, knocking on heaven's door when he nearly died from a bacterial heart infection.

 

Now, in the autumn of his life, he no longer plays guitar onstage, alternating between a piano console and upright microphone.

 

This is an ironic twist of fate for a folksinger who set down his acoustic guitar at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, strapped on an electric Stratocaster, and inspired all popular musicians beginning with The Beatles to write songs that were more serious, stream-of-conscience, and lyrically sophisticated.

 

But Bob can still play a mean harmonica, as he demonstrated for the Windy City crowd during a haunting interlude to "Soon After Midnight," a Fifties doo-wop turned murder ballad from his widely acclaimed 2012 album Tempest.

 

Mr. Dylan, who has been criticized for sometimes not addressing his audiences, proudly introduced his band members, adding, "We love Chicago just like you do."

 

And to show their affection, they performed two encores, the self-explanatory "Love Sick" off of Dylan's 1997 critical comeback album Time Out of Mind, and "It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry," a world-weary blues song with a positive upbeat tempo, from 1965's groundbreaking Highway 61 Revisited.

 

Aside from the blessing of again getting to see an artist for the ages who changed the course of culture and music, the most poignant part of this magnificent concert was the simple joy of watching an elderly gentleman doing what he loves for the enjoyment of those who loved him back after each song with warm applause.

 

 

Free healthcare clinic in Aurora is seeking volunteers to continue making mission possible

 

   By Tom Siebert

Jack Sharratt felt an aching void in his life after recently retiring from a 25-year career as a chiropractor.

But the Batavia resident has filled that emptiness inside by volunteering at Aurora Christian Healthcare, a nonprofit clinic that provides free medical, dental, vision, orthopedic, and chiropractic services to those who need them.

“These people are the working poor,” said Dr. Sharratt, who serves patients at the clinic for four hours every two weeks. “They are our neighbors. They build our homes, do our landscaping, and produce goods in our factories.”

Aurora Christian Healthcare is a holistic clinic that provides prayer, healthcare, and counseling to those who are not covered by Medicaid, Medicare, the Veterans Administration, or the U.S. Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act––colloquially called "ObamaCare."

According to the Kane County Health Department, 11.8 percent of county residents have no health insurance. That figure equates to approximately 63,254 individuals without medical coverage and 23,352 persons in Aurora alone.

Many people seeking help at the free clinic are suffering from chronic health conditions such as diabetes, obesity, hypertension, and poor dental hygiene, Dr. Sharratt said.

“My patients are lovely people,” he asserted. “They are hard-working, devoted to their families, non-pretentious, and appreciative of their care.”

The clinic is located at 61 S. Broadway, in the building that formerly housed Mission Possible, which shut down in 2020 after eight years of offering free healthcare to the uninsured community.

Aurora Christian considers itself the heir to Mission Possible, but in order to continue providing help to the local sick and suffering, it needs more healthcare professionals to volunteer at the clinic.

The clinic is seeking “mission-minded” physicians, nurses, nurse practitioners, dentists, hygienists, chiropractors, ophthalmologists, and other healthcare providers, according to Traci Dunne, a licensed social worker and vice president of the 501(c) nonprofit organization.

Healthcare professionals must be licensed in Illinois and willing to devote a minimum of three to four hours of service per month, she stated.

Also needed are volunteers for the welcoming team, whose members schedule appointments, make reminder calls to patients, and check them in when they arrive at the clinic.

Occasional needs include help with mailings, photography, graphic design, information technology, cleaning, painting, and construction, Ms. Dunne added. And Spanish-speaking translators are always appreciated.

Aurora Christian Healthcare is funded by donations, grants, gifts, and a few foundations.

Those interested in donating, volunteering, or learning more about the clinic may call (630) 586-6392 or visit their website at https://www.aurorachristianhealthcare.org/.

For Dr. Sharratt, providing free healthcare is its own reward.

“I get my needs met as a doctor and as a human being,” he said. “I make a difference.”

 

Kendall County PADS keeps shelters closed but vows to continue helping unhoused community

 

Yorkville United Congregational Church of Christ housed one of the seven temporary homeless shelters that Kendall County PADS operated since 2010, offering meals, overnight stays, and social services.

By Tom Siebert
Assistant director for community relations
Public Action to Deliver Shelter (PADS) of Kendall County

For the second straight year, the Kendall County PADS board decided to keep its temporary homeless shelters closed during the upcoming colder months, citing health concerns over the worsening COVID-19 crisis.

But members of the homeless support group pledged to continue offering the alternative assistance that it has provided to the unhoused community, since the coronavirus forced the shutdown of the shelters in March 2020. 

“The homeless have been cared for,” said Anne Engelhardt, executive director of Kendall County PADS. “Nobody has been left on the street.”

At a board meeting earlier this month, Ms. Engelhardt gave credit for the ongoing help to both  the Kendall County Health Department and the Daybreak Center in Joliet, which has been accepting the local homeless into its shelter, operated by Catholic Charities.

RaeAnn Van Gundy, director of the Kendall County Health Department and a PADS board member, said her agency has been able to use COVID-19 federal relief funds to temporarily house area homeless citizens in local motels and assign them social workers from Community Action of Kendall and Grundy counties.  

“If there was a silver lining to COVID, it was getting them all into one place to stay,” Ms. Van Gundy said. “Because of that we have been able to expand our program for client services.”

She added that some clients were able to receive housing vouchers to rent their own apartments while others were referred to Daybreak, which provides food, shelter, and social services including “intense case management” 24 hours per day.

Since 2010, PADS had been providing nutritious meals and overnight housing at seven shelters  that were open one night of the week between mid-October and mid-April.

Those seeking shelter had to either drive their own vehicles or receive private transportation to travel to and from each site, often spending their in-between time at fast-food restaurants, the Oswego and Yorkville public libraries, and designated warming centers throughout the county such as the Montgomery Village Hall.  

Sheriff Dwight Baird, also a PADS board member, said he and his deputies continue to offer any unhoused person transportation to Hesed House, a full-service homeless shelter in nearby Aurora. And Kendall Area Transit (KAT) has also provided rides when needed for those without vehicles. 

Some PADS site managers at the meeting stated their willingness to reopen the temporary shelters, which were located at six area churches and a Christian academy.

But a majority of the board members agreed that the health of the shelter guests and volunteers could not be guaranteed, particularly with the so-called delta variant of the coronavirus causing COVID-19 cases to recently double in the county.

“The numbers don’t look good,” Ms. Van Gundy said. “And they aren’t expected to improve until we have better vaccination rates.”

Every year the homeless support group needed more than 500 volunteers, most of whom served once or twice per month, to staff the seven overnight temporary shelters, working four-hour shifts.

Ms. Engelhardt expressed her gratitude to the thousands of area residents who have volunteered at PADS during its eleven shelter seasons and suggested the following service opportunities:

·      The Caring Hands Thrift Shop in Yorkville https://facebook.com/CaringHandsThriftshop

·      Kendall County Community Food Pantry https://kccfoodpantry.org

·      Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) http://casakendallcounty.org

·      Yorkville, Kendall County Senior Services, call (630) 553-5777; or email Deborah Sheppard at dsheppard@seniorservicesassoc.org

 

“We will continue to explore other ways to help the homeless in Kendall County,” Ms. Engelhardt vowed.

 

 

 

From a Bush to a Kennedy, Judson University bridges political divide with diverse speakers

 

Dr. Gene C. Crume, president of Judson University in Elgin, speaks at a recent World Leaders Forum, which the Christian college founded in 2011 to host public policy discussions. (Photo by Robb Davidson)

By Tom Siebert

During the past politically divisive decade, the World Leaders Forum at Judson University has served as a civilized oasis of public policy debate among heads of state from around the globe.

The small Christian college, with a student body of about 1,300, began the forum with a big bang in April 2011 when it hosted former President George W. Bush as the event’s first keynote speaker, followed the next year by Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union.

“My decision to say yes to Judson had a lot to do with the success of the World Leaders Forum,” said Dr. Gene C. Crume, who became the Elgin university’s sixth president in 2013, after serving at St. Mary’s University in Minnesota, the Peru State College Foundation in Nebraska, Midland Lutheran College in Nebraska, the Indiana State University Foundation, and his alma mater Western Kentucky University.

“It’s not about partisanship or advocacy,” Crume said of Judson’s now-globally known and highly esteemed speakers series. “We want there to be thoughtful dialogue. And the audiences are always very receptive and very engaged.”

Subsequent guests of the university were ex-British Prime Minister Tony Blair; former Mexican President Felipe Calderón; Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan; author, attorney, and diplomat Caroline Kennedy; and jointly, former U.S. Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and ex-Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, who also served as chair of the Democratic National Committee.

The keynoters are not required to share Judson’s faith views nor are there any restraints on what they can discuss, Crume said.

For instance, when the daughter of the late President John F. Kennedy, Caroline, appeared before the forum in October 2019, she chose to veer far away from politics.

“I don’t wish to contribute to the divisiveness in our country at this time,” Kennedy told an audience of more than 500 at the Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center Hotel.

She then proceeded to regale the crowd by reciting poetry, playing trivia, and telling stories about her famous family.

“As a Christian university, we know who we are,” Crume explained. “But the Scriptures are really clear about this––we do engage in the world.”

The forum has also drawn speakers from the realm of entertainment such as Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team and star of ABC-TV’s “Shark Tank,” and last month, actor Terrence Howard, who spoke about his newly invented drone technology, even demonstrating an unmanned aerial device on the campus grounds.

Moderators of the annual event have included conservative commentator Eric Metaxas; TV news reporter Lisa Chavarria of NBC 5 in Chicago; and business/political consultant Mark Vargas, the forum’s president and a 2004 graduate of the university.

Proceeds from the World Leaders Forum fund Judson’s leadership scholars program, innovative entrepreneurial activities, and ongoing operational purposes.

Located in northwest suburban Elgin since 1963, Judson University offers a Christian, liberal arts and sciences education through its Bachelor of Arts degrees for more than 60 majors, minors, graduate, and online programs, as well as certification and accelerated adult degrees. For more information, visit www.JudsonU.edu.

The speakers series is held mainly at Judson’s Herrick Chapel, but when ticket demand exceeds the seating capacity of that venue, the event is relocated to the larger convention center in nearby Schaumburg.

That will be the case on Nov. 5 when retired U.S. four-star Gen. David Petraeus will speak at the forum, after the COVID-19 health crisis led to the postponement of his scheduled appearance last year.

Crume asserted that Petraeus is a perfect pick for the nonpartisan event because he served under both Republican President George W. Bush and Democratic President Barack Obama.

Petraeus, who led U.S. troops in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, will no doubt be asked to discuss President Joe Biden’s decision to conclude America’s combat missions in those countries later this year.

“The timing is very interesting,” noted Crume. “There should be some unique and compelling questions.”

 

Actor Terrence Howard gets high marks at Judson University's World Leaders Forum in Elgin, Illinois

 

    (Photo by Robb Davidson, courtesy of Judson University)

 

By Tom Siebert

Terrence Howard has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, having appeared in 52 movies and 25 television shows.

But the acclaimed actor told a Judson University audience on Friday that he would rather be known for reaching the real stars, through his newly developed drone technology that could improve border security, curb upper-atmosphere pollution, and even connect with space aliens.

"We plan to take it to the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter,” said the 52-year-old Chicago native at the university’s tenth annual World Leaders Forum in Elgin.

Judson alumnus Mark Vargas, a business and political consultant who hosts a local conservative talk show on WIND-AM 560, interviewed Howard on stage at Judson’s Herrick Chapel before about 200 students, faculty, and members of the community.

Vargas kicked off the conversation by asking Howard what it felt like to be among the 2,690 entertainers whose names are emblazoned on the five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars, along the 15-block Walk of Fame on Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street in Los Angeles.

“It humbled me that people who may not even know who I am will someday walk over my name and wonder who is this person that my mother and father made,” said Howard, who starred for six years as hip-hop mogul Lucious Lyon in the popular TV series “Empire.”

He grew up in Cleveland and studied electrical, chemical, and civil engineering at the prestigious Pratt Institute in Brooklyn.

“I was bouncing back and forth between these majors, trying to figure out how things worked,” Howard recollected. “I couldn’t find the answer so I left school and became an actor.”

One of his first major film roles was in 1995’s “Dead Presidents,” as the memorable character Cowboy, an anti-war friend of a returning Vietnam veteran.

Howard, who has since been nominated for 56 acting awards and has won 34 of them, said he discovered a truth about his craft when fellow “Dead Presidents” cast member Laurence Fishburne told him that he had known someone just like Cowboy.

“That touched me to know that I could affect someone’s emotions in that way and it was freeing,” said Howard, who was later nominated for both a Golden Globe and Academy Award for his riveting role as a pimp turned rapper in 2005’s “Hustle and Flow.”

But the father of five, whose wife Mira also attended the event, said his acting career will be only a “footnote” if his new drone technology takes off, with the help of partner Vargas and former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who will head an advisory board on the project and was in the Judson audience.

“I know a lot of people at the Defense Department who are fascinated by this,” said Vargas, who served in the administrations of presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, working to rebuild the economy of war-ravaged Iraq.

The newly invented drone, called the “Lynchpin,” was later launched in a demonstration on the scenic campus grounds by Kevin Plaizier, a junior from Utah State University.

Plaizer, who won an international competition to develop the drone using Howard’s designs, showed off its ability to not only hover but turn upside down, similar to the spaceship in the 1977 classic film “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.”

Howard has many commercial, science, and computer patents pending, and he envisions his unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) as being used to decrease pollution, improve agricultural crops, and perhaps even determine the source of life.

"If I'm successful, there will never be a need for my obituary," he said metaphysically.

Proceeds from Friday’s event will fund entrepreneurship, diversity programs, and RISE scholarships for developmentally challenged students at Judson.

Previous speakers at the school’s World Leaders Forum were former President George W. Bush; ex-Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice; former Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev; ex-British Prime Minister Tony Blair; and former Mexican President Felipe Calderón.

Other keynoters were Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan; Dallas Mavericks owner and “Shark Tank” host Mark Cuban; author, attorney, and diplomat Caroline Kennedy; and jointly, former U.S. Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and ex-Vermont Gov. Howard Dean.

Located in northwest suburban Elgin since 1963, Judson University offers a Christian, liberal arts and sciences education through its Bachelor of Arts degrees for more than 60 majors, minors, graduate, and online programs, as well as certification and accelerated adult degrees. For more information, visit www.JudsonU.edu.

Some students interviewed at the World Leaders Forum thought that Howard’s lofty objectives for the betterment of the world were not just pie-in-the-sky aspirations.

“It was mind-blowing,” said P.J. NKalang’ango, a junior from Tanzania majoring in architecture. “He is a genius and not only as an actor.”

Abigail Belsan, a sophomore from southwest suburban Lemont and also an architecture major, agreed, calling Howard “one of the most unique individuals I’ve ever seen.”

Asked whether the actor’s search for the meaning of life may differ from the teachings of the Christian college, Belsan replied, “People can have a different interpretation of the gospel.”

 

REO Speedwagon, joyful fans roll with COVID changes at Aurora’s RiverEdge Park in Chicago suburbs

(Photo by Tom Antonson)

 

By Tom Siebert

 

After riding out the storm of COVID-19, more than 6,000 REO Speedwagon fans couldn’t fight the feeling of unabashed joy last night, as the venerable rock band staged the first major concert in the Chicago area since the day the music died nearly 16 months ago.

 

Amidst the bucolic beauty of RiverEdge Park along the west bank of the glimmering Fox River in Aurora, the home-state heroes delighted the concert-starved crowd with a dazzling two-hour set of the power anthems and tender ballads that dominated rock radio throughout much of the 1970s and 1980s.

 

Charismatic lead singer Kevin Cronin stirred up the already-pumped audience with the evangelical zeal of a Southern preacher. He is, after all, from south suburban Oak Lawn.

 

“Check yourself out!” Cronin shouted, after the Speedwagon played the relentless rocker “Keep Pushin'” from the 1976 album “R.E.O.,” which marked the vocalist’s return to the group after a two-year hiatus.

 

“Look at this!” he marveled to the cheering, fist-raising, peace-sign-giving crowd. “We’re out! We’re at a rock and roll show!”

 

With COVID-19 subsiding and the so-called Delta variant of the coronavirus concerning, there was not a protective mask in sight at the scenic, 10-acre park where rock returned.

 

“You know, ever since this craziness started, this is actually the first time I’ve been out of my backyard,” said the singer turned nightclub comic. “As a matter of fact, this is the first time I’ve been out of my pajamas!”

 

Then he noted that the Champaign-founded band was not only kicking off its latest U.S. tour but also celebrating the 40th anniversary of the release of their blockbuster album “Hi Infidelity,” which sold 10 million copies and yielded six smash singles that owned the FM airwaves throughout the year of 1981.

 

Then they tore into one of those fabled numbers, the infectious “Don’t Let Him Go,” driven by Dave Amato’s swirling guitar riffs and Cronin’s distinct yodel-like vocalizing.

 

The most faithful fans had camped out under the late afternoon sun in order to lay claim to the standing-room-only spots at the front of the titanic stage, with its pavilion wings and cedar-planked sound wall.

 

But the thousands who arrived an hour or two prior to the show’s 8 p.m. scheduled start had to endure long lines along Broadway, north of downtown, before being greeted by RiverEdge staff at the security checkpoints into the park.

 

Most people sat on lawn chairs or blankets, eating vendor food, drinking beer or lemonade, or just resting from the long, strange trek––that is, until Cronin began to sing these nursery rhyme-like lines:

 

Heard it from a friend who

 

Heard it from a friend who

 

Heard it from another you been messin' around

 

Immediately recognizing the lyrics from the mega-hit “Take It On the Run,” many in the audience rose up like Lazarus and joyfully sang along.

 

The mostly Baby Boomer crowd provided vocal assistance on practically every song that REO performed, emblematic of the loyal fire that the band’s fans have kept burning for them during the past half-century.

 

The group got its name way back in 1967 when keyboardist Neal Doughty saw the name “R.E.O. Speed Wagon,” referring to a 1915 truck designed by Ransom Eli Olds, on a blackboard in his history of transportation class at the University of Illinois.

 

REO Speedwagon started out playing the Champaign-Urbana bar circuit, barnstormed the Midwest for several years, and released ten albums with varying success––most notably 1973’s “Ridin’ the Storm Out” and 1978’s “You Can Tune a Piano but You Can’t Tuna Fish.”

 

Then came 1981’s “Hi Infidelity,” a wry take on the band’s lifestyle at the time, and they became global pop stars.

 

That landmark album also gave them their first Number One song, “Keep On Lovin’ You,” whose opening lyrics sent Thursday night's concert crowd straight into rock ‘n’ roll heaven. Many sang transportedly along, perhaps lost in memories of a romance gone bad or good.

 

You should have seen by the look in my eyes, baby

 

There was something missin’

 

You should have known by the tone in my voice, maybe

 

But you didn’t listen

 

And I’m gonna keep on lovin’ you

 

'Cause it’s the only thing I want to do

 

“Keep On Lovin’ You” is now a mainstay at proms, weddings, karaoke bars, and classic rock stations, including Aurora’s own The River 95.9-FM, which was prominently present at the gig, after giving away free tickets to some lucky listeners.

 

And yes, REO, which has sold 40 million records worldwide, did play 1984's chart-topper "Can't Fight this Feeling," “Keep the Fire Burnin'” from 1982’s “Good Trouble” album, along with a soaring “Time for Me to Fly,” again from “Hi Infidelity,” and 1979’s “Back On the Road Again,” which featured bassist Bruce Hall on lead vocals.

 

The showstopper of the evening was the thunderous “Ridin’ the Storm Out,” title track from the popular LP. The iconic song stems from an earlier iteration of the band that was stranded during a Colorado blizzard.

 

But “Ridin’ the Storm Out” took on added gravitas Thursday night, in the painful wake of the COVID-19 pandemic that has taken the life of nearly 4 million citizens of the world.

 

Moreover, the coronavirus crisis was not the first health storm that REO has ridden out. During their first two decadent decades, the Speedwagon was fueled by alcohol and other drugs.

 

They went through three singers, two drummers, two bass players, and two guitarists including creative force Gary Richrath, who left the group to form his own band in 1989, and passed away at the age of 65 in 2015.

 

However, the band’s current line-up, which includes gifted drummer Bryan Hitt, has been performing together for more than 30 years.

 

Opening for REO was Head East, who also hail from Central Illinois and has shared many concert bills with the main act.

 

Head East is comprised of keyboardist Roger Boyd, drummer Eddy Jones, bassist Greg Manahan, lead guitarist Glen Bridger, and lead vocalist Darren Walker.

 

The talented musicians performed a lively half-hour set that included album-oriented radio standards “Since You’ve Been Gone,” “Love Me Tonight,” and “Never Been Any Reason,” with its signature line that many in the audience knew and sang heartily:

 

Save my life/I'm going down for the last time

 

RiverEdge Park, the public access project of Aurora’s late Mayor Tom Weisner, began hosting summer concerts in 2013. Last season was completely canceled due to COVID-19, while this year’s schedule was delayed for a month.

 

Previous RiverEdge headliners have included Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, the Steve Miller Band, Peter Frampton, Idina Menzel, Loretta Lynn, Randy Travis, Trace Adkins, Lady Antebellum, OneRepublic, and KISS.

 

Last night, REO’s final encore was yet another song of survival, “Roll with the Changes,” and seemingly everyone sang the chorus “Keep on rolling!”

 

And so it was altogether apropos that these soul survivors should resurrect rock concerts at a pretty park on a gorgeous night in the City of Lights.