“CHICAGO & FRIENDS”
PRODUCED BY DECADES ROCK LIVE
ANNOUNCES NEW SPECIAL GUESTS,
ROBERT RANDOLPH, CHRISTONE “KINGFISH” INGRAM, VOICEPLAY
FILMED CONCERT EVENT SET FOR NOVEMBER 17 AND 18
AT OCEAN CASINO RESORT IN ATLANTIC CITY, NJ
ALSO FEATURING ROBIN THICKE, STEVE VAI, AND CHRIS DAUGHTRY
July 28, 2023 – Three very special guests–six-time Grammy nominee pedal steel virtuoso Robert Randolph, guitarist Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, and the world-renowned a cappella quintet, VoicePlay—have been added to the exciting lineup of Decades Rock Live’s latest concert production, “Chicago & Friends.”
The legendary multi-Platinum band Chicago has partnered with award-winning producer, “Decades” series creator and co-founder of FanTracks, Barry Summers, to create an exclusive Chicago show unlike any other show they’ve ever performed on tour. They’ll perform their greatest hits with some very special guests, including previously announced guitar virtuoso Steve Vai paying tribute to the band’s original lead guitarist, Terry Kath, Robin Thicke, Chris Daughtry, and even more guests to be announced in the coming weeks.
Set for Friday, November 17 and Saturday, November 18 at Ovation Hall at the Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City, NJ, these shows are being filmed on a custom-built LED stage set with over 30 4k cameras for global distribution that will be announced in the coming weeks.
The Chicago-themed weekend at Ocean Casino Resort will include a special “Decades” VIP Party, exclusive VIP Packages, exclusive merchandise, and on Saturday, November 18 there will be a VIP Champagne Brunch. Tickets are available now via Ticketmaster.com and Ocean Casino Resort box office. For more information, visit theOceanAC.com.
To celebrate the 55th Anniversary of Chicago’s groundbreaking double-Platinum debut album, CHICAGO TRANSIT AUTHORITY, the band will perform songs from the album both nights, including never-before-performed songs from the classic album along with the band’s greatest hits. The band will also perform some of their classics unplugged during both shows.
Prior Decades Specials have featured:
- Heart with Carrie Underwood, Alice In Chains, Jane’s Addiction’s Dave Navarro, Gretchen Wilson, Guns N’ Roses’ Duff McKagan and Rufus Wainwright
- Lynyrd Skynyrd with 3 Doors Down, Bo Bice and Hank Williams Jr.
- The Doors with Ray Manzarak, Robby Krieger, The Cult’s Ian Asbury, Jane’s Addiction’s Perry Ferrell, Macy Gray, Antigone Rising, Vanilla Fudge, Pat Travers and John Sebastian
- Bonnie Raitt with Norah Jones, Ben Harper, Keb Mo and Alison Kraus
- The Pretenders with Incubus, Iggy Pop, Kings of Leon and Garbage’s Shirley Manson
- Cyndi Lauper with Velvet Revolver’s Scott Weiland, Train’s Pat Monahan, Shaggy and Ani DiFranco
- Elvis Costello with Death Cab For Cutie, Fiona Apple and Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong
ABOUT CHICAGO
With more than 100 million albums sold worldwide, in addition to being in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the multi-Grammy Award winning band has been hailed by Rolling Stone Magazine as one of the “most important bands in music since the dawn of the rock and roll era.” The legendary rock and roll band with horns, Chicago, came in as the highest charting American band in Billboard Magazine’s Top 125 Artists of All Time. Chicago recently received The Recording Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award from the GRAMMYS and was previously inducted into the GRAMMY Hall of Fame in 2014. Band members Robert Lamm and James Pankow have been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2017. Further to that, the band has 21 Top 10 singles, five consecutive Number One albums, 11 #1 singles and five Gold singles, with a total of 48 Gold and Platinum awards. The original three band members are Robert Lamm on keyboards and vocals, Lee Loughnane on trumpet and vocals and James Pankow on trombone. The band line-up also includes Ray Herrmann on sax and flute, Wally Reyes, Jr. on drums, Neil Donell on vocals, Ramon “Ray” Yslas on percussion, Tony Obrohta on guitar, Loren Gold on keyboards and vocals, and Eric Baines on bass and vocals.
ABOUT FANTRACKS
FanTracks is a live streaming company with fan engagement at its core, connecting fans, bands and venues. The company provides subscription and pay-per-view streaming live music events, Xtended Reality (XR) Video Production, digital merchandise and short form original content. FanTracks creates Fanmersive experiences allowing consumers to enjoy live music experiences and gain access to their favorite artists in person and online. Its deep ties to superstar talent and band management form the cornerstone for the creation of hybrid productions that attract music lovers across genres, demographics and geographies. FanTracks is a departure from services that digitally mimic traditional ticketing. The platform offers music lovers access to high-quality, carefully curated, and professionally produced live shows. Its proprietary technology creates a new world of virtual music and fan experiences, from a range of group chat modes to hosted hang-out spaces and parties, to enhanced interactive features that bring musicians and music lovers together.The company’s long-standing relationships allow for international syndication to cable/satellite/TV broadcast, streaming video services and on-demand providers. In August 2022 FanTracks acquired jazzed, the immersive live-streaming app uniquely curated from the best in jazz, soul and blues to jazz-inspired superstars, thereby adding experienced management in music, entertainment and technology to its leadership team.
ABOUT OCEAN CASINO RESORT:
Spanning over 20 beachfront acres on the world-famous Atlantic City Boardwalk, Ocean Casino Resort, named “Best Casino” by Philadelphia Magazine’s “Best of Philly 2021” awards, features 1,860 guest rooms and suites; 135,000 square feet of gaming entertainment; over 1,750 slot machines; 125 gaming tables; 160,000 square feet of meeting and convention space; 90,000 square feet of unique outdoor space; 5 upscale dining restaurants; 10 casual dining options; a 40,000 square foot spa; 6 signature day and nightlife experiences; and a 4,500-seat concert venue. Ocean is home to the world’s largest Topgolf Swing Suite and offers both land-based sports wagering and online gaming within the state of New Jersey through its real-money gaming sites. Ocean Casino Resort is owned and operated by AC Beachfront, L.L.C. For more information about Ocean, please visit theoceanac.com or follow Ocean on Facebook, Twitter, Instagra
ABOUT STEVE VAI:
A virtuoso guitarist, visionary composer, and consummate producer who sculpts musical sound with infinite creativity and technical mastery, Steve Vai has awed fans of all genres with his exceptional guitar skills and musicianship for decades. At age 12, he started taking guitar lessons from Joe Satriani. At 18, he began his professional music career transcribing for, and then playing with, the legendary Frank Zappa. More than three decades, over 15 million in album sales, and three GRAMMY Awards later, Vai has proven himself, in his own right, to be one of music’s true originals. Vai’s work has been recognized with a long list of awards and honors, including over 15 from Guitar Player magazine alone. His career accomplishments have earned him honorary doctorates from Berklee College of Music and Musicians Institute. The 2016 Long Island Music Hall of Fame inductee was voted the 10th “Greatest Guitarist” by Guitar World magazine and consistently lands among the best in various lists of the top guitarists of all time. While many musicians fit easily into a single category, Steve Vai’s unique musical vision remains unclassifiable. After more than 30 years, Vai continues to use unbridled guitar virtuosity and soulful artistry to explore the spectrum of human emotion.
ABOUT CHRIS DAUGHTRY:
Daughtry, one of the most visible and best-selling rock bands of the 21st Century, has sold out concerts across the globe. Their self-titled debut album was the top-selling album of 2007, and was the fastest-selling rock debut album in Soundscan history. It was also nominated for four Grammy Awards and won four American Music Awards and seven Billboard Music Awards, including Album of the Year. The subsequent albums, LEAVE THIS TOWN (2009), BREAK THE SPELL (2011), and BAPTIZED (2013) have all gone Platinum, with CAGE TO RATTLE (2018) certified Gold. In 2021, Daughtry released their new album, DEARLY BELOVED, which marked a return to the bands Rock roots with 3 top 10 Rock Chart Singles “World on Fire”, “Changes are Coming” and “Heavy is The Crown.”
ABOUT ROBIN THICKE:
Robin Thicke is a five-time Grammy Award nominee, Diamond-selling performer, actor, entrepreneur and philanthropist. Since the launch of his solo career in 2003, after writing for everyone from Michael Jackson to P!nk, Thicke has notched multiple Gold and Platinum certifications and consecutive Top 5 bows on the Billboard Top 200. His sixth album, 2013’s BLURRED LINES, crashed the Billboard Top 200 at #1 and produced the RIAA Diamond-certified title track “Blurred Lines” [feat. T.I. and Pharrell]. The song made history, holding the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for 12 weeks. Thicke also was the first artist since 2012 to simultaneously occupy the #1 spot on the Hot 100 and Top 200, putting him in an elite group of 17 other acts to accomplish this feat in the previous decade. In addition to his role on The Masked Singer, Thicke recently released his first studio album in six years, ON EARTH, AND IN HEAVEN, which includes the No. 1 single on the Billboard Album R&B Songs Chart, “That’s What Love Can Do,” as well as the current Top 5 radio hit, “Look Easy.”
ABOUT ROBERT RANDOLPH:
A virtuoso on the pedal steel guitar, Robert Randolph jumped from spiritual to secular music and found an audience among blues fans, roots rock aficionados, and jam band followers with his fiery, passionate instrumental work and heartfelt music. Robert Randolph started playing the instrument as a churchgoing teenager in Orange, New Jersey, a small city just outside of Newark. He regularly attended the House of God Church, an African-American Pentecostal denomination that had been using steel guitars (or “Sacred Steel”) in services since the ’30s, with the pedal steel in particular being introduced during the ’70s. Randolph learned to play by watching other steel players during church services; years later, he updated that sacred foundation with a secular mix of funk and soul, giving a new multicultural facelift to an instrument that had often been associated with country music.
ABOUT CHRISTONE “KINGFISH” INGRAM:
Since the release of KINGFISH, his Grammy-nominated 2019 Alligator Records debut album, guitarist, vocalist and songwriter Christone “Kingfish” Ingram has quickly become the defining blues voice of his generation. From his hometown of Clarksdale, Mississippi to stages around the world, the now 22-year-old has already headlined two national tours and performed with friends including Vampire Weekend, Jason Isbell, and Buddy Guy (with whom he appeared on Austin City Limits). He was interviewed by Sir Elton John on his Apple Music podcast, “Rocket Hour,” and recently released a duet with Bootsy Collins. In January 2021, Ingram was simultaneously on the covers of both Guitar World and DownBeat magazines and graced the cover of Living Blues in late 2020. Rolling Stone declared, “Kingfish is one of the most exciting young guitarists in years, with a sound that encompasses B.B. King, Jimi Hendrix and Prince.” In the two years since KINGFISH was released, there have been major events that have altered his life both personally and professionally. “There has been much change, happiness and despair in my life,” Ingram says. Right as his career was taking off, he lost his mother and biggest champion, the late Princess Pride Ingram. Ingram toured for 13 months non-stop, until the pandemic halted live performances and forced him to take stock. As he was thinking about the man he was becoming and the new directions his life was taking, he began writing songs for his next album, 662. The number 662 is the telephone area code for his northern Mississippi home, and it first came into use the same year he was born—1999.
ABOUT VOICEPLAY:
VoicePlay is an award-winning, world-renowned a cappella group formed in Orlando, FL and comprised of singers Geoff Castellucci, Layne Stein, Eli Jacobson, and Cesar De La Rosa. VoicePlay creates amazing harmonies and inventive re-imaginings of popular music with nothing but their voices. They were finalists on NBC’s The Sing Off season four, Shorty Award Nominees for “Best YouTube Musicians,” and they have hundreds of millions of views across social media. VoicePlay has appeared on multiple national tours and they continue to amaze audiences around the globe with their powerful music-without-music a cappella sound.