Illinois 40 Years After

Illinois is a state that has an awful lot to offer visitors. There are many wild open areas that offer a glimpse into a rural past that shapes many daydreams about the continent, and saw the childhood of Abraham Lincoln. There’s also a fantastic sense of urban life, with Chicago, the third largest city in the country, offering all the metropolitan entertainments anyone could want, with its own share of historically important events and people. It’s very much alive right now, and is still one of the most attractive cities for young artists and thinkers to come and make a mark in world culture.

The mood might be different here than it was forty years ago, or it might be cycling around again to where it’s very much the same. It’s hard to tell, because the past few generations have had some difficulty defining their own cultural moment, and sometimes the best we can do is go retro. More young people have been able to enjoy a few more creature comforts than in the past, but that might be changing soon enough.

Right now, however, is a ripe time to enjoy the state from Illinois luxury hotels , and take in all the present and the past. Visitors to the Chicago area might occasionally be treated to a new concert by Sly and the Family Stone , who thankfully still play out, and their shows here have a remarkable poignancy.

It was just forty years ago – whether that’s ancient history or recent past is in the historical eyes of the beholder – that Sly and family were part of a much darker event. No one can be exactly sure what happened, or where things went south, but it accelerated quickly once it started.

They were to play a concert where thousands of revolutionary youth were gathered to hear the band that was in the process of changing their music from sunshine pop to something with a little more bite. Sly was and is famous for being late, and that was the case here. It may or may not have had an effect on how the crowd was getting edgy, but at some point it escalated, and the police lost control.

It is a different scene now, and we know enough not to repeat the mistakes of the past, hopefully, but we’re also looking for meaning, and right now the messiahs of the 60s are still some of the most hopeful voices around.

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