Tweeter Center

My god man, it feels like I spend half of summer between here and Sox park. I’ll be the first to admit, the sound here definitely leaves something to be desired. But it’s summer time dog, pull up some lawn, grab a brew, and enjoy. I’ve had seats at a couple shows here and the sound is better down there for sure. The problem is, you don’t get to stretch out our legs and lay in the grass down there. When they have huge shows come through there’s always some second stages set up around the parking lot. Half the time these are the better bands. Because they’re less mainstream than the headliners, it’s pretty easy to get up close and personal with the bands. There’s a ton of bars, but they’re all pretty far from the main lawn/​stage area so that sucks. Crap load of bathrooms but they’re always full. Parking is free and you can tailgate, so cram the cooler full of cold ones and pregame in the parking lot. Tshirts cost a buttload and that sucks. Beer’s run about $ 7 which also sucks. All the more reason to load up the cooler. Oh, and one of my favorite parts — SMOKE UNTIL YOUR HEART’S (lung’s) CONTENT!

I went to my first Tweeter Center concert yesterday to see Rock the Bells. The concert itself was incredible. Great line up including Nas, Mos Def and Tribe.
Now lets get down to the venue.
Parking was not a problem, organized and ended up being free because people who work there are idiots. The show started at noon, but was an hour late. The beer wasn’t sold until 3:45, which sucked at the time, but thinking back, was probably a smart idea because I would’ve been trashed by 6PM. The beer was all Miller Light, not that it mattered by my 3^rd beer, and magically, the concert got fun!
Actually, the beer wasn’t what helped, it was that the good artists came on as beer flowed through my veins. Then the ushers immediately got whack. «You can’t go that way,» they kept repeating as people passed them. Some ushers cared which way people went, others ushers allowed you to walk past without incident.
People were also began getting escorted out. Granted, these people were very drunk, just another reason why I don’t like this venue. Let people be drunk and happy. Theh they ran out of food. That was the icing on the cake. When you have no food for a bunch of drunk people, it is NEVER good. Luckily I got the LAST order of chicken fingers.
If it wasn’t the $ 8 beer, it was the strict people working there. The actual set up for the concert is fantastic: airy, warm, good views of the stage wherever you were seated but Corporate America got the best of this place and turned it into Great America for Music.

This was like going to a concert in a mall. It was really weird.
I haven’t been to a concert somewhere like this since I saw Duran Duran in 1987, and I don’t count that.
I was taken to see Rush this weekend, and it was a GREAT concert. I wouldn’t sit around listening to them, but whoa were they amazing live.
Anyway.
We got decent parking in the humoungous lot because we got there super early. Upon entering, my bag was barely checked, but I was told that I would have to take my keys hanging on my belt back to my car. WTF. I was then told it was because of my carabiner. I tossed it in the trash and put the keys in my bag.
In we went.
It was like walking into a mall.
A pack of smokes was $ 10, more expensive than in a bar in the city (and it later turned out that they didn’t even have any — overheard in a conversation). Beer was $ 6 – 8. The prices were worse than sporting events.
The lawn was smaller than I expected it to be. Our seats weren’t too bad. We were in the second to last row in the pavillion. The seats were semi-​comfy for molded plastic.
The no-​smoking ban wasn’t very enforced.
Also? CLEAN bathrooms.
I’m not one for huge shows like this, but I’m glad I’ve been there at least once.

Went here for Counting Crows/​Goo Goo Dolls. Gotta say, a state-​of-​the-​art facility with more than enough bathrooms, concessions, and parking. Compared to similar types of venues in Cleveland and Detroit, what is now «Midwest Bank Amphitheater» is above the rest.
However, the lawn is a far, far way from the stage, and the venue, as a whole, is very suburban and non-​intimate. This means, more likely than not, that you will not be surrounded by «real» fans of your favorite band when you hear them live, which is highly disappointing.
Also, bottled beer here is really expensive, but considering the cost of living out in Chicagoland, the $ 5 drafts are about as expected, I think.

PROS
Biggest variety of live shows every year
CONS
Too expensive in the reserved area
Too crowded on the lawn
Lawn is too flat, so everyone stands throughout the show
Beer is ridiculous
Parking is ridiculous
Traffic is sheer hell getting out
It’s about 1 ½ hours from my house
Please, oh please hurry up and build that new place out in Hoffman Estates. Poplar Creek we miss you!

If you really feel the need to go here be sure to get a lawn ticket. I have my best times out on the lawn. Be sure to do your drinking beforehand as beer and concessions here are out of control on the price. This place doesn’t hold a candle to Ravina when it comes to an outdoor concert but if you want to see a big name outside then you pretty much ahave to go here.

Off the top of my head, I could probably think of a few places I would rather see a live show at. I understand an outdoor theater wouldn’t have the acoustics of an indoor venue, but here, if you get seats in the first section of the pavilion, you will have an unobstructed view, but the sound quality is not too good. In the second section of the pavilion, there are quite a few seats that have nice views of the pole in front of you, and that is it. The most redeeming quality, is the lawn. You can see the stage, you can hear very well, and it is a blast, because you never have to move when the person sitting in the middle of the isle gets drunk and has to run down the isle every ten minutes to either puke or get another beer. I have seen the best shows from the lawn (not to mention these are the most affordable seats as well) including Alan Jackson, ZZ Top, Tim McGraw, Godsmack, and Dave Matthews to name a few. The other thing is the prices for concessions. I know they are pretty high elsewhere, but when I had to pay twenty dollars for a frozen hurricane and a bag of chips, I almost cried. But the staff they have there is always courteous and well trained, and will always be able to answer any questions you may have.

I recently went to Tweeter to see Farm Aid. The acoustics were bad. I had lawn seats which meant I was pretty far back. I like how the venue is outside but it is almost too big and it makes it hard to really hear the quality of a band.

I saw a lot of concerts here, when it was called «the New world Music Theater», which is a much better name. I dunno why they changed the name. I saw:
Steely Dan
Tom Petty
The Wallflowers & Counting Crows
Every time it was an awesome experience.

The Tweeter Center, or The New World Music Theatre as I prefer to call it because it was once called that and it was a much better name, is a really awesome venue. To the best of my knowledge nothing has changed much here, except the name, and nothing really needs to be changed either. I saw AC/​DC here, and I don’t think they could have made any other venue their own, any more than they did this place. I also saw REM there. I don’t think I would have changed anything about either show, it’s not perfect, but it comes closer than most places I’ve been to.