Wrigley Weather

Cubu

I was on the field in 2013. I was getting texts from friends telling me the storms were heading our way. When Ed made the announcement about the weather coming in, they said they need 1/2 hour to clear the field. They played 1 more song, then stopped. You could hear the thunder in the distance. It only took about 15-20 minutes for the field to be cleared. Everyone was very cool about it, though it was very surreal. The problem was after the main rain came, another wave came through. Then it stopped. Then it took another hour or so, before they let people back down on the field. The show then started at 11:30pm. The second delay was far to long. It had stopped raining. The radar was clear, but the kept everyone waiting. I watched people go across the street to Sluggers as we were holed up on the ramp out in right field. Met some very cool people. Pearl Jam fans are the best. Nothing gets to us. Bring the rain, bring the thunder, we're still going to rock Wrigley!

SmallestOceans

RC153010 said:

need the rain to scalp some cheap tickets from the scalpers. need two for SAT and three for moN

Haha that's great :rofl:. I'm in the same boat. Bring the rain.

wnh1977

slightofjeff said:

From my understanding (I wasn't there), the big problem that night was lightning. I don't know how it works in Chicago, but where I live (Texas) if you're at, say, an outdoor sporting event and there's a lightning strike anywhere within like a 10-mile radius, everything is shut down for at least an hour. If there's another strike within that radius, the clock re-sets.

I've been at high school football games where there's not a cloud in the sky over the stadium, but because there was a lightning strike recorded nearby, everyone has to clear off the field for at least an hour.

My point is: It could have been completely out of the band's hands back in '13.

My larger point: I think Pearl Jam proved that night that they'll do whatever it takes to get the show in. Which is why I'm not worried about Saturday, particularly.

Yeah, wouldn't be surprised with this. I'm sure threatening conditions were probably close enough to do what they did. I was just giving my perceptions as a greedy fan who wanted as much PJ as possible that night. You can't blame the band or other decision-makers for taking extreme caution.

I felt like they came back on and played midnight to 2pm... not the 11:30 that Cubu mentioned. It just felt like coming back on stage and getting the music cranked up took forever. Eddie talked, introduced Ernie Banks, let Ernie talk, did the mediocre Cubs song, "All the Way" (hey, I'm a Cubs fan, but I was ready to get the show moving at this point)... I just kept feeling like, "Christ, let's get it going!" Again, 30+ songs, keeping 40,000 people safe... the band and people involved did everything they could, I have no doubt. But I remember Eddie getting interviewed in the Cubs broadcast booth a year or so ago... you could tell that the way the night unfolded still bothered him a little bit.

RG292419

Keep in mind in 2013, Phish (Northerly Island) and a local festival were evacuated and cancelled that night when the weather hit. For any second-guessing of how things were handled by PJ/Wrigley, at least they got a great show in.

chitownp76

RG292419 said:

Keep in mind in 2013, Phish (Northerly Island) and a local festival were evacuated and cancelled that night when the weather hit. For any second-guessing of how things were handled by PJ/Wrigley, at least they got a great show in.

A guy in my building was a huge Phish head. Was at the Phish show, they cancelled it. He hopped on the red line and somehow managed to get into Wrigley when PJ came out for the second set. Talk about shooting from the hip....

OnWis97

slightofjeff said:

wnh1977 said:

slightofjeff said:

As I've said earlier: If they had a show in 2013, they'll have a show this time around. It just might be a pain in the ass again.

2013 Wrigley was a weird-ass show. Of course there was the extreme heat and sunshine during the day. I remember being in my seat at the time listed on the ticket JUST IN CASE the show started at the time. I think they ended up coming on an hour after the ticket said.
#1 - Had they come on when the ticket said, they could've probably played a full main set before leaving the stage before the storm (easily an additional 10-12 songs... they played 7 before leaving stage).
#2 - I felt like they left wayyyyy prematurely (after first 7 songs). I don't know what kind of discussions were taking place, or who was ultimately in charge of the final decisions, but I felt like they left when the weather was still really, really good. There was more than enough time to get off the field, get people to safe spots, etc. And yes, I know they want to error on the side of caution, but you could see by looking at the skies that nothing was going to happen right away.
#3 - It's been 3 years, but I seem to remember it taking forever for them to get back on stage as well. We still got 30+ songs that night, so it's not like we were cheated. But the 2.5 hour delay just made it feel like a discombobulated show.

Long story short, it would have been interesting to be a fly on the wall to see what discussions were being had and with whom? I know safety is a HUGE deal to Pearl Jam... understandably so. But it felt like at least 30 minutes were wasted on either side of the delay when they could've been rocking under completely safe conditions. But who knows, if they would've gotten 17 - 20 songs in before the rains came, maybe the powerful decision-makers would've said that was good enough to call it a show? Fans would've been outraged. Just a wacky, weird day.

I'm going to hope Tom Fucking Skilling is right. By evening/night, some partial clearing on Saturday!!

From my understanding (I wasn't there), the big problem that night was lightning. I don't know how it works in Chicago, but where I live (Texas) if you're at, say, an outdoor sporting event and there's a lightning strike anywhere within like a 10-mile radius, everything is shut down for at least an hour. If there's another strike within that radius, the clock re-sets.

I've been at high school football games where there's not a cloud in the sky over the stadium, but because there was a lightning strike recorded nearby, everyone has to clear off the field for at least an hour.

My point is: It could have been completely out of the band's hands back in '13.

My larger point: I think Pearl Jam proved that night that they'll do whatever it takes to get the show in. Which is why I'm not worried about Saturday, particularly.

But there was a little bit of press for that and some really upset neighbors. If it happens again, the show is simply off this time.

JC29866

wnh1977 said:

I felt like they came back on and played midnight to 2pm... not the 11:30 that Cubu mentioned. It just felt like coming back on stage and getting the music cranked up took forever. Eddie talked, introduced Ernie Banks, let Ernie talk, did the mediocre Cubs song, "All the Way" (hey, I'm a Cubs fan, but I was ready to get the show moving at this point)... I just kept feeling like, "Christ, let's get it going!" Again, 30+ songs, keeping 40,000 people safe... the band and people involved did everything they could, I have no doubt. But I remember Eddie getting interviewed in the Cubs broadcast booth a year or so ago... you could tell that the way the night unfolded still bothered him a little bit.

Agreed, it took them way too long to get rocking after the break. And then they played Bugs or some shit.
The worst part was- they stopped selling beer on the field when they evacuated, and you couldn't buy any when they came back onstage either.

PJM3333

Simple solution to avoid this in the future - Play United Center

Indifference71

JC29866 said:

wnh1977 said:

I felt like they came back on and played midnight to 2pm... not the 11:30 that Cubu mentioned. It just felt like coming back on stage and getting the music cranked up took forever. Eddie talked, introduced Ernie Banks, let Ernie talk, did the mediocre Cubs song, "All the Way" (hey, I'm a Cubs fan, but I was ready to get the show moving at this point)... I just kept feeling like, "Christ, let's get it going!" Again, 30+ songs, keeping 40,000 people safe... the band and people involved did everything they could, I have no doubt. But I remember Eddie getting interviewed in the Cubs broadcast booth a year or so ago... you could tell that the way the night unfolded still bothered him a little bit.

Agreed, it took them way too long to get rocking after the break. And then they played Bugs or some shit.
The worst part was- they stopped selling beer on the field when they evacuated, and you couldn't buy any when they came back onstage either.

Yeah- they should have come out swinging after the 2-3 hours break and played Corduroy or something like that to get the crowd going. Oh well- was still cool that they played a full show until 2am.

whoanelly15

PJM3333 said:

Simple solution to avoid this in the future - Play United Center

PJM3333

whoanelly15 said:

PJM3333 said:

Simple solution to avoid this in the future - Play United Center

There it is! Hell, play 3 shows at United! No weather...no curfew...

PJM3333

PJM3333 said:

whoanelly15 said:

PJM3333 said:

Simple solution to avoid this in the future - Play United Center

There it is! Hell, play 3 shows at United! No weather...no curfew...

Or play at the Cell, because the Cubs suck.

slightofjeff

OnWis97 said:

slightofjeff said:

wnh1977 said:

slightofjeff said:

As I've said earlier: If they had a show in 2013, they'll have a show this time around. It just might be a pain in the ass again.

2013 Wrigley was a weird-ass show. Of course there was the extreme heat and sunshine during the day. I remember being in my seat at the time listed on the ticket JUST IN CASE the show started at the time. I think they ended up coming on an hour after the ticket said.
#1 - Had they come on when the ticket said, they could've probably played a full main set before leaving the stage before the storm (easily an additional 10-12 songs... they played 7 before leaving stage).
#2 - I felt like they left wayyyyy prematurely (after first 7 songs). I don't know what kind of discussions were taking place, or who was ultimately in charge of the final decisions, but I felt like they left when the weather was still really, really good. There was more than enough time to get off the field, get people to safe spots, etc. And yes, I know they want to error on the side of caution, but you could see by looking at the skies that nothing was going to happen right away.
#3 - It's been 3 years, but I seem to remember it taking forever for them to get back on stage as well. We still got 30+ songs that night, so it's not like we were cheated. But the 2.5 hour delay just made it feel like a discombobulated show.

Long story short, it would have been interesting to be a fly on the wall to see what discussions were being had and with whom? I know safety is a HUGE deal to Pearl Jam... understandably so. But it felt like at least 30 minutes were wasted on either side of the delay when they could've been rocking under completely safe conditions. But who knows, if they would've gotten 17 - 20 songs in before the rains came, maybe the powerful decision-makers would've said that was good enough to call it a show? Fans would've been outraged. Just a wacky, weird day.

I'm going to hope Tom Fucking Skilling is right. By evening/night, some partial clearing on Saturday!!

From my understanding (I wasn't there), the big problem that night was lightning. I don't know how it works in Chicago, but where I live (Texas) if you're at, say, an outdoor sporting event and there's a lightning strike anywhere within like a 10-mile radius, everything is shut down for at least an hour. If there's another strike within that radius, the clock re-sets.

I've been at high school football games where there's not a cloud in the sky over the stadium, but because there was a lightning strike recorded nearby, everyone has to clear off the field for at least an hour.

My point is: It could have been completely out of the band's hands back in '13.

My larger point: I think Pearl Jam proved that night that they'll do whatever it takes to get the show in. Which is why I'm not worried about Saturday, particularly.

But there was a little bit of press for that and some really upset neighbors. If it happens again, the show is simply off this time.

Eh. I think they'll figure it out if it comes to that.

Honest question: Has any Wrigley show ever been just flat cancelled by weather?

slightofjeff

PJM3333 said:

Simple solution to avoid this in the future - Play United Center

But the whole point of playing Wrigley is to play Wrigley.

PJM3333

slightofjeff said:

PJM3333 said:

Simple solution to avoid this in the future - Play United Center

But the whole point of playing Wrigley is to play Wrigley.

Yeah, I get it. 2013 was awesome. Can't wait for the shows this weekend!

mattcoz

PJM3333 said:

Monday night low of 62°. Another Epic evening!

Should make it very comfortable in the pit!

Left Porch

Going back to NY early Sunday morning, only thing I'm worried about is the hangover I'll have.

Indifference71

PJM3333 said:

Simple solution to avoid this in the future - Play United Center

Agreed. So crazy that they haven't play the UC since 2009.

chiwhitesox

PJM3333 said:

PJM3333 said:

whoanelly15 said:

PJM3333 said:

Simple solution to avoid this in the future - Play United Center

There it is! Hell, play 3 shows at United! No weather...no curfew...

Or play at the Cell, because the Cubs suck.

https://media.giphy.com/media/xT5LMSgoX3R3nKEgEg/giphy.gif

nycrats

Jamd44 said:

They cant play Sunday. Baseball fields require the grass to rest for 24 hours. They need to remove all seats after the show .That's why it's sat/mon and boston was fri/sun

didnt jason aldean play 2 nights after pj in 2013? so 3 nights in a row?