Jammin’ at the Zoo

Just experienced my first concert at the zoo and I must say I was quite impressed! You can walk around the zoo as you wish and see a few exhibits while you are waiting for the concert to start. I wasn’t too familiar with the bands playing but they kept my interest and it was great to sit around outside and drink with friends. The drinks are reasonably priced but the price of admission was a bit steep in my mind but overall it was a great experience!

I came here for a concert with my bf to see Neon Trees and Hedley. I feel super cool for having attended a concert at a zoo. Like seriously, I don’t think it’s all that common.
I loved the music, they really put on a great show. The venue is also lovely, especially cause it’s out in the open and just perfect in the evening, right when the day is cooling down and you can feel a breeze (even though you’re surrounded by lots of sweaty people).
Cons involve expensive parking and a really long wait between the opening band and main act. Also, the women’s restroom in the lion house stinks, I had to breathe through my mouth so that I wouldn’t puke. But I saw a tiger on my way out (in the lion house what), so that made up for it.

Came here to see Neon Trees and Hedley in 2012. Show started at 7pm and lasted until 11pm, and we got 5^th row from the barricade after getting there 6:30pm.
Pros:
–nice venue
Cons:
-$ 24 event parking
–30 min break between bands with Neon Trees starting around 9:20pm
–ticket service fees

The good: OneRepublic gives a great concert. It’s a small enough venue that, if you have a view of the stage, you can actually see the sweat stains on Ryan Tedder’s shirt. Tickets to these events are pretty cheap, but those awful extra fees ($ 2 to print your ticket at home?) add up, increasing the cost by about a third.
The mediocre: You can’t bring food or drinks inside. I understand that they want more money to go to the zoo, but if you have special dietary needs (e.g. gluten free), you’re SOL. If you can eat what they have, it’s a bit overpriced, but not more than other similar venues.
The bad: If someone yells fire at one of these things, people will die in the ensuing stampede. There are more people holding tickets than space and there was standing room only off the lawn area, which was jam packed with picnic blankets. What I’m trying to say is that this thing is waaaaay over crowded.

Five stars for the amazing show (Guster) and the experience of being in the zoo at night, which was kind of cool and creepy.
Three stars for LP Zoo’s management of this event.
My friends and I were super excited to go see Guster, since the zoo show is the only Chicago stop on their tour. A few hours before the show I saw it was sold out, and thought «cool.»
We strolled up a little after 7, right before the opening act started. Grabbed some beer (a can of Bud Light will set you back $ 5), and made our way over to the concert area.
Now, should we have arrived earlier if we wanted a nice spot on the grass with a good view of the stage? Yes, absolutely. That’s our fault. But we managed to find a decent spot at the top of the hill along the sidewalk.
As the night wore on, it got completely packed. Like, so packed I honestly thought to myself, «if something goes wrong, people are going to get hurt.»
The Zoo clearly oversold tickets for the show, and you could barely walk through the crowd. I felt bad for people with strollers (but not really, because bringing your stroller to a concert is just DUMB) and if you were in a wheelchair, forget it. When we first arrived there was security a few feet down from us barking at people to keep the sidewalk clear, and eventually he gave up because people had nowhere else to go.
We ended up standing on the benches to get a better view of the stage. Behind us there was a grassy area that was barricaded off. Towards the end of the show people jumped the barricade, and I can’t say I blame them. Moving the barricade back 5 feet would have alleviated a lot of the congestion and allowed people to actually move along the sidewalk.
But hey, their porta potties had toilet paper and didn’t smell. So, there’s that.
Despite the crowd issues, I had an absolute blast. The band was amazing, the crowd was amazing, the weather could not have been more perfect, and I left a sweaty mess with a smile on my face. That’s a sign of a good night.
I can’t say I’d go out of my way to do this again, unless it was a band I love making their only Chicago stop here. Otherwise, it’s a fun thing everyone should try once. But get there early and stake out a spot on the grass with a blanket or chair, and it might make your experience even better.

Is there anything you can’t do at this zoo?
I’ve run through it.
I’ve frolicked the grounds with 3D glasses and a cup of hot chocolate in my hand during Zoo Lights.
Now I can say I’ve jammed at the zoo too!
I had been stalking the Jammin’ at the Zoo website to see which bands would be performing this summer. The zoo hosts 3 concerts on the last Friday of the month starting in June. The website did not announce the line up until 3 weeks before the first concert. Ugh! Some advanced notice would have helped. I swiped up tickets as soon as I found out that Lifehouse would be playing.
Next time I’ll:
–buy my tickets at the zoo before the concert (avoid an extra $ 10/​ticket)
–show up well before the gates open at 6pm so you actually be front row!
–sneek in some grub & drinks even though they’re not allowed because they don’t even look in your bags (just a quick purse groping)
–remember that there are 2 entrances (one in the parking area on Cannon Drive and the other on Stockton near the greenhouse) or give my husband his ticket beforehand!
–bring my bug spray!
Food is decently priced. Went to the Park Café to pick up a couple smoked turkey wraps ($ 7.95) and cheese fries ($ 3.99). Their beer of choice is Budweiser-​thank goodness for Bud Light with Lime ($ 5). They take credit cards too.
It got pretty dang crowded. So don’t be surprised if some 40 year old drunk soccer mom from the burbs keeps bumping into you as she does some odd hippie dance.
All in all a good time. Great somewhat intimiate setting to hear some of your favorite bands!

This whole concept of Jammin at the Zoo is awesome! Me and Monsta were there for the Blind Melon show last month. We had a blast watching one of our all time favorite bands!
were talking live music outside!
Booze!
Blind Melon (yeah we know Shannon OD’d)
all in the middle of the animals. I swear at one point we tought the Lion was actualy watching the concert with his leg up ion the air!
Definitely something to put on your schedule next year if theres a band that you like.

What could be better good live music and cold beer, during a beautiful evening at the zoo? If you’ve never been to Jammin at the Zoo you should go. 3 shows a summer, each around the last Friday of June, July and August. Sadly you’ve missed the last show this season, but there’s always next year. Tickets are reasonable $ 23 gets you in to see an opening act and the headliner.
Here are some of the highlights (and lowlights) of the night:
(1) They moved the stage, they used to set up to the South of the lion house, but now are to the North. I liked this location much better, it seemed like there was a lot more room for people to sit and enjoy the music
(2) Being front row to see Pat McGee (we really came to see them, not Soul Asylum). For $ 23 you don’t feel bad skipping out on the headliner. The band was awesome!
(3) Frank E. Lee’s jokes going over like a lead balloon. Great DJ, not so great jokester
(4) Pushing 50 blond lady on speed all by herself who looked like she just stepped off the tennis court. I gotta give her props, she wasn’t above some serious air guitar (including some fierce jumping kicks while rocking out), hooting, hollering and boogie-​ing down. She took it a little too far when she screamed «DANCE» at those around her she felt weren’t feelin’ it like she was.
(5) Annoying chicks next to me who thought it was their job to tell Pat McGee to adjust his mic so they could hear him better. Really, talk about nervy! Also, the opposite of props for keeping me on edge — sloshing a glass of red wine while dancing around is never a good idea, especially when you’re standing next to someone (me) in a white shirt.
Bottom line: you’ve got to do this at least once, it’s a blast. I’ve seen several shows here and have never been disappointed (Everclear, Blues Traveler, Pat McGee/​Soul Asylum). Besides tickets and beer (they have wine too) are pretty cheap — need I say more?

Total Fan for these reasons: Pat McGee Band — front row. Yee haw. Didn’t really care to see Soul Asylum. The crowd was actually pretty mellow (at least for PMB, who opened — not sure why they weren’t the headliner…) and the backdrop was nice. Getting to be up close with lions and seals nearby — nice, really nice.
Not nice — the 45 or so year old woman with an outfit straight from mall-​mom /​tennis carpooling (pink wife-​beater, black tennis skirt, and pink and black flip-​flops — maybe she thought she was matching?) playing air-​guitar and trying desperately to rile up nearby fans to make her look as bad as she did thrashing about thinking she was hip (and actually dancing). I felt bad for anyone closer to her than I, although she alone did make for good people-​watching.
So Pat McGee Band — awesome. Scenery — awesome. Atmosphere — pretty darn good. An unfortunate woman — not so much!

Triangle man meets particle man. .. they have a fight. .. triangle man. .. see — i don’t even know the words and I STILL paid $ 20 bucks to get in and see They Might Be Giants «jammin’ at the zoo»! It’s fun — totally a disco with animals kind of a thing, and if you can ignore the jibber jabbering trixies trying to ignore the fact that they’re no longer 21 and slamming chiraz with all the desperation of an alcoholic with one hour left ’til closing time — then you too can find solace in some of the funkiest, if not best, music ever. The lead singer of TMBG said it best (come on — do you know his name? then lay off!) «we dreamed our whole lives of playing at. .. zoos» but for those of us who came to relax in a humid august night, it was a really great way to spend a Friday evening. Relaxing, fun, and pretentious without really trying. Really? Who could ask for more?