Dave Matthews Concert

Last weekend, Ben and I went to the Dave Matthews concert at Wrigley Field (where the Cubs play). It was a HUGE concert and it was fun to see the spectacle. I felt like I was in high school again when Dave was so popular. Ben’s office got some tickets for one of the rooftops just outside of Wrigley… it turned out that the view was terrible, but it was still fun to be there and hear the music.

Here’s a bad picture of me (I didn’t realize the person was already taking the photo) that gives you a little better view of the surroundings and how high we were – I think it was about three or four stories up.

Here’s one where we’re actually smiling. These were taken with our junky old point and shoot, so picture quality is just so-so. And the sun was shining right on Ben’s face as it was setting for the day.

Jason Mraz was the opening act for the concert – we were surprised that there wasn’t too big of a crowd there at the beginning. Do you see that entrance down below at the end of the red wall? That’s where members of Dave’s official fan club (the VIPs) entered to be on the field. Regular people had tickets up in the stands.

We took the el down to Wrigley… purple line express to Belmont, then hopped on the red line and went one stop back on THE most crowded train I have ever been on. Ben and I barely fit in the doors – we were worried they weren’t going to close! The woman’s face next to me was inches away from mine and every time the train shifted on that short little run to the next stop, I felt the weight of the crowd pushing against me. There was a group of guys passing some big liquor bottle around, and they each took a swig and the rest of the guys would cheer. It was quite the experience and just about everyone on that train was going to the concert, so we all pushed off as the doors opened at Addison.

The crowds continued – it was crazy to see how many people were outside, in the nearby bars and restaurants or picnicking out on front lawns. Streets were shut down all around the stadium. There aren’t many concerts held at Wrigley Field and this was a big deal.

And a few hours later, here’s a shot of when Dave was performing and the stadium was PACKED. There were so many people stuffed onto that field and in the bleachers. You can see how bad our view was – we couldn’t even see the screens!! It’s okay though, it was still a lot of fun. The whole concert lasted from 7 p.m. until 11 p.m. – it was super long and we were standing almost the whole time, talking to people from Ben’s office. My feet were killing me by the end!!

Blurry shot of us as it was ending -

We realized the concert was coming to a close, so we RAN out of there toward the el as fast as we could. Past the crowds in the streets who were drunk, stoned, who knows what else. Past the slow pokes. We made it onto the train before the swarms of people hopped on and we we even scored seats! It was a happy ending to a fun night out.

And since bombs seem to be the theme of the week with everything going on around us (there was another bomb threat a few days ago, this time at the middle school)… a Lebanese man tried to plant a bomb in a trash can in a corner right around Wrigley on the Saturday night after the Dave concert. The man thought he was planting an explosive, but he was unknowingly working with an informant and undercover FBI agent, who were able to give him the fake bomb.

YIKES. Thank goodness for fake bombs.

On a safer note, we now have the alarm installed and on. I can finally sleep more peacefully after what happened last week!