In about a decade, violin virtuoso Lindsey Stirling went from one of streaming’s best-kept secrets to an internationally recognized star with over three billion YouTube views and platinum-plus sales.

Her latest long player, 2019’s “Artemis,” landed at the top Billboard’s Dance/Electronic Albums Chart and remained in the running for 15 weeks, while spinning off into a comic book series.

In other words, the classical crossover phenomenon is on a roll, which carried over to the stage when she finally made it to Huntington Bank Pavilion At Northerly Island after both a pandemic-related delay and a severe storm that forced another postponement seconds before show time.

Luckily, Stirling’s third try was indeed the charm as she turned in 100 glorious minutes that didn’t just revolve around her futuristic sounds, but also an imaginative display of choreographed dance, aerial stunts, costumes galore and scenery changes most akin to Broadway.

The headliner was especially theatrical in delivery for her Windy City debut of recent recordings, (“Darkside,” “Masquerade,” “Between Twilight”), along with a key sampling of earlier work (“Shatter Me,” “Crystallize,” “The Arena”).

She even took fans to the movies for a stripped down soundtrack section that included “Married Life” (from “Up”) and “Once Upon A Dream” (from “Sleeping Beauty”), plus the virtual duets “Love Goes On And On” (with Evanescence’s Amy Lee) and “Don’t Let This Feeling Fade” (with Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo and rapper Lecrae).

Throughout it all, Stirling stitched together a carpe diem theme that ultimately encouraged the all ages audience to chase their passions and embrace individuality, all mantras that have obviously become the bedrock for this one-of-a-kind artist.

As “Mirage” and its subsequent kaleidoscope of lights decorated the Windy City skyline, the much-delayed display of this multi-hyphenate’s many talents turned out to be well worth the wait, while leaving the door wide open to the wonder of whatever’s next. 

For additional information on Lindsey Stirling, visit LindseyStirling.com.

Upcoming concert highlights at Huntington Bank Pavilion At Northerly Island include Rise Against (Aug. 28); Greta Van Fleet (Sept. 3); 311 (Sept. 10); Quinn XCII and Chelsea Cutler (Sept. 11); Above & Beyond (Sept. 18) and Alice Cooper with Ace Frehley (Sept. 24). For additional details, visit LiveNation.com.

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