MUSIC

Chicago set to perform concert this fall in Fort Myers

The classic rock band Chicago.

Chicago will perform this fall in Fort Myers.

The classic rock band will play a concert at 7 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 29, at Suncoast Credit Union Arena at Florida SouthWestern State College.

Tickets range from $38 to $118, excluding fees, and go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday at the Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall box office, online at www.bbmannpah.com or call 239-481-4849. 

More: Chicago bringing 45 years of rock to Barbara B. Mann on Thursday

“This will be the first concert at the new arena,” said Scott Saxon, General Manager of the Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall at FSW.

“We are extremely excited to showcase this brand new facility to the audiences of Southwest Florida. Chicago is a legendary band and the perfect concert to christen the Florida SouthWestern State College facility.”

Chicago last performed in Fort Myers in 2012. The band formed in the Windy City in 1968 and soon thereafter moved to Los Angeles. Its hits have included "Does Anyone Really Know What Time It Is," 

The band's lineup has changed over the years and has had its share of ups and downs. Lead guitarist Terry Kath — revered by Jimmy Hendrix — died from a gun accident in 1978. It nearly caused the band to break up, even more so than the 1985 departure of singer Peter Cetera, who moved on to a solo career.

Walt Parazaider, the band's saxphone player and an original member, said it began humbly in 1967, when six guys sat around a table and made a pledge: "Let's make the best band we possibly can."

"I had the idea, 'Why don't we become the Beatles with horns?" he told the Daily News in 2012. "And when you're young and stupid, why not shoot for something big?'"

Parazaider acknowledged the city of Chicago has been home to big names in music, including Styx and, later, the Smashing Pumpkins. But for their band in the late 1960s, few opportunities existed.

"We just went out to California to see if we could take a shot at it," he said. "We said, 'We could starve to death on either coast but we won't freeze to death in California.'"