The Grassroots and The New Colony Six at the Des Plaines Theater: Sometimes less is more

Every summer there’s a tour of oldies acts called the “Happy Together” tour. Headlined by The Turtles, there are four or five other acts from the 1960s that take a turn on stage. They each do four or five of their hits before giving way to the next act. It’s a fun show that brings back memories of what felt like better times.

Sunday, I attended an oldies concert that wasn't nearly as much fun as the “Happy Together” shows.

The Grassroots and The New Colony Six performed at the Des Plaines Theater. Instead of four or five songs, both bands did full sets. That's where it went wrong.

The concert began with Chicago legends The New Colony Six. They played a low-energy hour-long set. The highlights included covers of hits by Paul Revere and the Raiders, The Beatles and other local Chicago bands. I'm not saying those songs were good; they just were better than their other tunes.

By the halfway point of their set, I was checking my watch and hoping for the end. The band looked and sounded old and dated. Their performance made me feel the same way.

Then came the headliners, The Grassroots. From their set's start, they showed much more energy than their opening act. Highlights from their set included the hits “Midnight Confession”, “Temptation Eyes” and “Sooner or Later”, as well as the lead guitar playing of Dave Zane, who was on loan from The Buckinghams. Still, they also needed a couple of cover songs from other ‘60s bands to fill out their ninety-minute set.

So, how can we make a mediocre night of music better? Add a few more bands and have each of them do a shorter set of five to six songs. The Grassroots are familiar with this format since they were recently a part of the “Happy Together” show in Milwaukee.

How about this: The Grassroots, The Buckinghams, The Association, and yeah, I'll even give The New Colony Six another shot. Or fill in your favorites from that era. They all play five or so of their biggest hits… no covers. Sounds pretty good, right?! And we would all go home Happy Together.