*** Official Chicago 2018 Thread ***

[couldihavebeenU]

No Alpine is a huge bummer and Northerly Island gets a pretty bad rap, deservedly so on many accounts. Personally, living downtown makes the convenience factor too high to pass up on a pair of local shows.

[handsareme]

The Twins in town at Wrigley make this weekend too good to pass up.

[4041]

If you get lawn, don't bother going to that shithole unless they build a hill for it between now and then so you can actually see the stage

[smb41]

N2 will be my first birthday show. Disappointed about Alpine, but this should be a fun weekend.

[AlexK79]

I'll probably end up going since it'd be really hard to skip a show right here in town.

[jmanneydmb19]

Any hotel reccomendations near the venue would be greatly appreciated..

[lockman21]

I work in the Loop and live in Wicker, will not be going. NI is a shithole.

[lockman21]

Originally Posted by jmanneydmb19

Any hotel reccomendations near the venue would be greatly appreciated..

Anywhere in the Loop/River North area is fine.

[marine]

Originally Posted by jmanneydmb19

Any hotel reccomendations near the venue would be greatly appreciated..

hotels near museum campus would be good, quick walk to and from the venue

[lockman21]

Originally Posted by marine

hotels near museum campus would be good, quick walk to and from the venue

Yeah. The Hilton and Blackstone are the best bet in that area. Palmer House or Chicago Athletic Association a little more north by Millenium Park. The JW Marriott in the Loop is really nice.

[marine]

Originally Posted by jmanneydmb19

Any hotel reccomendations near the venue would be greatly appreciated..

specifically best western grant park

[TimHonks]

Echo the Alpine disappointment, but this will be a fun weekend. Will be nice to sleep in my own bed.

I'll probably splurge on tickets since I won't be paying for Alpine Resort. Any suggestions on what seats I should target? Anyone with VIP experience at this venue? I don't really like PIT, so I'm searching for best reserved options. TIA!

[marine]

Originally Posted by TimHonks

Echo the Alpine disappointment, but this will be a fun weekend. Will be nice to sleep in my own bed.

I'll probably splurge on tickets since I won't be paying for Alpine Resort. Any suggestions on what seats I should target? Anyone with VIP experience at this venue? I don't really like PIT, so I'm searching for best reserved options. TIA!

I don't remember the exact section # but my mom and I were up in the reserved seats in the stands to the left of the stage for dave and tim. awesome view of the stage with the city behind them. hoping to get that area again

[lockman21]

Originally Posted by TimHonks

Echo the Alpine disappointment, but this will be a fun weekend. Will be nice to sleep in my own bed.

I'll probably splurge on tickets since I won't be paying for Alpine Resort. Any suggestions on what seats I should target? Anyone with VIP experience at this venue? I don't really like PIT, so I'm searching for best reserved options. TIA!

I did VIP for a non-DMB show. The VIP area is nice if you don't want to wait as long for a bathroom/drink. I'm not a PIT fan either.

[marine]

the pit at NI is not fun even with reserved seating. got stuck in the middle of two grown men throwing punches over an argument about fantasy baseball (?) at the dave and tim show

[TimHonks]

Originally Posted by lockman21

I did VIP for a non-DMB show. The VIP area is nice if you don't want to wait as long for a bathroom/drink. I'm not a PIT fan either.

Good views and sound? I realize the overall venue doesn't have the best sound, but were you happy with the VIP seats besides the bonus of bathroom/drink? I think bathroom/drink is a huge bonus, just wanted to make sure because I think the VIP section is kind of far from the stage?

[zaj128]

I fucking hate this place. But I will be there both nights. Blah. #RIPAlpine

[lockman21]

Originally Posted by TimHonks

Good views and sound? I realize the overall venue doesn't have the best sound, but were you happy with the VIP seats besides the bonus of bathroom/drink? I think bathroom/drink is a huge bonus, just wanted to make sure because I think the VIP section is kind of far from the stage?

Um, it was ok. Sound wasn't great. Views were pretty cool for a band that I didn't care all that much about with the skyline, etc., but you were definitely pretty far away.

[jjlak15]

Originally Posted by zaj128

I fucking hate this place. But I will be there both nights. Blah. #RIPAlpine

I am interested, what are some of the reasons people hate it?

I have seen a few concerts there and always have a good time.

[clcfball11]

One of the worst venues in America. If you buy a lawn ticket you might as well wipe your ass with a $50 bill, it's that bad. Hometown show and absolutely won't be going.

Thanks Cap$haw.

[lockman21]

Originally Posted by jjlak15

I am interested, what are some of the reasons people hate it?

I have seen a few concerts there and always have a good time.

It's simply not built for a show like DMB. They expanded the place to fit more people and it's obvious. It's not a real ampitheatre. It's a small venue turned "big".

The sound is atrocious, there isn't a single good pavilion seat in the place, etc.

[sweens2002]

I will be going and it will be a good time. Be able to sleep in my own bed after the shows is a plus. I understand it's not Alpine and that blows, but it is what it is. Looking forward to these.

[mdel21]

I don't like that the 100 and 200 rows aren't on an incline. I was in 200s for D and T last year and it wasn't easy to see. I'll go because it's a 45 minute drive and I can sleep in my own bed. I understand the logistics of it, but I do wish Summerfest and these shows weren't three nights in a row.

[zaj128]

Pits aren't as hard to come by since it is so big and that's the only plus of it. I won't even both sitting anywhere else. It's not worth it given the setup and sound.

[AlexK79]

I think most people here's experience with this venue is limited to the DMB shows a few years ago. I go to this place 3-4 times every summer and I love it for smaller shows where the lawn is not open, which is what it was originally designed for. It's a great place to be on a nice, breezy summer night near the lake.

It becomes a completely different beast when they do the bigger shows with the lawn open. The lawn is just a giant field. There's no incline to it, and the view is blocked off on either side by the back of the grandstands in the reserved area. If you opt to sit on the lawn here, you need to know that going in. You're basically just out there to listen to the show and hang with friends. (I'm not even sure if there are screens as I have never sat there.)

There's very little incline in the reserved area either, which is the reason the stage is so elevated. Honestly the best spots from a sightline point of view are the grandstands because you can see over everyone on the floor.

This place was designed to hold mid-level size shows (the capacity of the main area is around 8,000) - I've seen tons of fun classic rock shows there - Foreigner, Bad Company, John Fogerty, stuff like that. A few years ago they realized 'Hey, if we sell tickets out in the grass behind the venue we can invite bigger bands in here and make a shitload of money!' So they've started to get a few shows each year with people like DMB, Phish, etc and it's less than ideal for that. It's not a "shithole" - it's clean, bathrooms are decent, great view of the skyline behind the stage, and it's right on the museum campus so plenty of stuff to do. You can tailgate too, ideally in the VIP lot right next to the entrance. It's pricey ($40 or $50 per car) but if you have a group of people just have everyone chip in a few bucks and you're good to go. We did this one of the nights in 2014, tailgated all day and were just steps from the venue entrance, it was great.

[lockman21]

It's not a shithole in the normal way - it's just a shithole in the sense that it's not built for a band like DMB. You described it perfectly.

[lilant420]

Already in the pit line!

[Floyd47]

Originally Posted by TimHonks

Echo the Alpine disappointment, but this will be a fun weekend. Will be nice to sleep in my own bed.

I'll probably splurge on tickets since I won't be paying for Alpine Resort. Any suggestions on what seats I should target? Anyone with VIP experience at this venue? I don't really like PIT, so I'm searching for best reserved options. TIA!

For Dave and Tim last summer I was in the first row of 205 for N1 and the second row of 203 for N2. View was great, sound was fine. Seats were honestly better than I expected. I think the 200s are closer to the stage than the uppers at the average venue... probably because of how close the rows of seats are packed together together

Definitely not a great venue, but I didn't have a terrible experience there.

[smb41]

How hard is it to get pits at NI via Warehouse requests? Is it worth marking one of these shows as your priority show in order to get a pit?

[AlexK79]

Originally Posted by smb41

How hard is it to get pits at NI via Warehouse requests? Is it worth marking one of these shows as your priority show in order to get a pit?

Pit is pretty big there. Not quite Alpine-big, but bigger than most venues I've seen. I'd say your chances of getting approved for pit there are higher than average.