Chicago Greats

Classic rock bands Chicago and Styx team up for tour coming to Houston

Chicago and Styx are co-headlining for the first time on this tour.

Two classic rock icons from the Windy City are hitting the road together next year. Chicago and Styx will bring the wordy tour, called The Windy Cities Tour - All The Hits…Your Kind of Tour, to the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion in The Woodlands on August 20, 2026.

The tour starts in West Palm Beach in July and ends in Los Angeles in September. In addition to Houston, it'll stop in at the Moody Center in Austin on August 19.

This is the first time these multi-Platinum bands have co-headlined a tour together. Aside from being from the same city, they share a reputation for a slick sound and a certain theatricality, whether that's from musical theater or jazz influences.

“We are excited about the summer tour,” said Chicago trumpeter Lee Loughnane in a press release. “Chicago has never toured with Styx before so it's going to be a lot of fun, we're looking forward to it.”

Chicago was the highest-charting American band in Billboard Magazine's Top 125 Artists of All Time in 2019 (where it was No. 10 overall, beat by Brits and solo artists). They've toured every single year, making this their 59th year on the road. In 2025, Chicago released a deluxe version of 2005's Love Songs.

Styx, known for dramatic hits like “Come Sail Away” and “Renegade,” debuted in 1972 and is still making new music, including the 2025 album Circling From Above. The group has had eight songs that reached the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, led by 1979's "Babe" at No. 1.

“In my early days of live performing I had several mentors who were kind enough to let me join in and play with them despite not being able to read charts,” said Styx singer/guitarist Tommy Shaw. “Rod Henley, Ricky Parsons, Bobby and Larry Moore, Eddie Wohlford, Wimpy Jones, Country Boy Eddie and others gave me a shot. And I am thankful for that. By the time Chicago released their first album, I had enough experience to begin learning their amazing music on my own. Now, the idea of Styx touring with Chicago is a major thrill all on its own. We can’t wait to spend the summer with them!”

Both artists will offer artist pre-sales and VIP packages beginning Tuesday, December 2, at 10 am. Citi cardmembers can access a presale beginning the same day at 12 pm. After some additional presales, the general starts Friday, December 5, at 10 am at livenation.com.

The Windy Cities Tour - All The Hits…Your Kind of Tour Dates

Mon 7/13 West Palm Beach, FL iThink Financial Amphitheatre
Wed 7/15 Tampa, FL MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre
Fri 7/17 Alpharetta, GA Ameris Bank Amphitheatre
Sat 7/18 Charlotte, NC PNC Music Pavilion
Mon 7/20 Bristow, VA Jiffy Lube Live
Tue 7/21 Camden, NJ Freedom Mortgage Pavilion
Thu 7/23 Wantagh, NY Northwell at Jones Beach Theater
Sat 7/25 Gilford, NH BankNH Pavilion
Sun 7/26 Mansfield, MA Xfinity Center
Tue 7/28 Toronto, ONT. RBC Amphitheatre
Thu 7/30 Grand Rapids, MI Acrisure Amphitheatre
Sat 8/1 Rosemont, IL Allstate Arena
Sun 8/2 Noblesville, IN Ruoff Music Center
Wed 8/5 Cuyahoga Falls, OH Blossom Music Center
Thu 8/6 Cincinnati, OH Riverbend Music Center
Wed 8/19 Austin, TX Moody Center
Thu 8/20 The Woodlands, TX The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion Sponsored by Huntsman
Mon 8/24 St. Louis, MO Hollywood Casino Amphitheatreh
Tue 8/25 Kansas City, MO MORTON Amphitheater
Fri 8/28 Denver, CO Ball Arena
Sun 8/30 Salt Lake City, UT Utah First Credit Union Amphitheatre
Tue 9/1 Phoenix, AZ Mortgage Matchup Center
Wed 9/2 Palm Desert, CA Acrisure Arena
Fri 9/4 Concord, CA Toyota Pavilion at Concord
Sun 9/6 Los Angeles, CA Kia Forum

music live music concerts

Movie Review

Billie Eilish takes fans behind the scenes in immersive 3D tour film

Photo by Henry Hwu/courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Billie Eilish in Billie Eilish: Hit Me Hard and Soft - The Tour Live in 3D.

In 2021, at the tender age of 19, singer Billie Eilish was already the subject of a documentary, The World’s a Little Blurry. At that point, she had only released one album, so the film threatened to feel too early for such treatment. The ensuing five years have only made her a bigger star, though, so in many ways that movie now feels prescient for the person on display in the new concert documentary with the unwieldy title of Billie Eilish: Hit Me Hard and Soft - The Tour Live in 3D.

Directed by Eilish and blockbuster filmmaker James Cameron, the film takes viewers inside Eilish’s 2024-2025 tour in support of her latest album, 2023’s Hit Me Hard and Soft. Filmed mostly at her series of shows in Manchester, England, the movie is a showcase for Eilish’s music, but it also serves as a smaller exploration of the type of person she is, as well as the impact she has had on her legion of fans.

The draw of the film is the use of Cameron’s beloved 3D technology, which he has employed in each of the three Avatar films. Unlike in those films, where the 3D has the odd effect of making the visuals too realistic for their own good, the technique brings an intimacy to the large-scale show that underscores the unique bond the singer has with her supporters.

Eilish and Cameron go back and forth between performances at the concert to behind-the-scenes sequences, detailing the enormous effort it takes to put on a show like that and how Eilish spends her time getting ready for it. As in The World’s a Little Blurry, this film continues to portray the singer as down-to-Earth, someone who yearns to maintain the connection to her fans that she’s had since she released her first single, “Ocean Eyes,” 10 years ago.

And as the many emotional songs in Eilish’s concert playlist prove, the feeling from the crowd is mutual. While Eilish has multiple bangers like “Bad Guy,” “Therefore I Am,” and the Charli XCX collaboration “Guess,” it’s the sad songs like “Everything I Wanted,” “Happier Than Ever,” and the Oscar-winning Barbie anthem, “What Was I Made For?” that hit the hardest. The depth of feeling emanating from her many sobbing fans singing along to crushing songs cannot be understated.

For audiences of the film, though, it’s the breadth of camera angles and shot choices that make it truly dynamic. There are cameras everywhere, including in the crowd, inside a cube at the center of the stage that rises and descends, following Eilish as she traipses every inch of the long, rectangular stage, and even a small one Eilish uses to bring an extra personal touch to the in-arena screen. Combined, they capture the complete energy of the concert, something that is not always the case in a film of this type.

Eilish has almost as many movies — two — as she does albums — three — which borders on overkill for a singer of her age. But both her music and the movies show her to be a person who knows the responsibility of being a celebrity, someone who understands that her fans are the reason she’s famous at all. Her career may go up or down from here, but it’s clear she’s already made a huge impact on those who love her most.

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Billie Eilish: Hit Me Hard and Soft - The Tour Live in 3D opens in theaters on May 8.

movies film