Chicago 2 - Wasn't the crowd's fault...
yellowbetterman
Posts: 8
Regarding some posts that the crowd was bad at Chicago 2. I went to both shows, and the crowd at the first night was very respectful and quiet. It felt like a West Coast show I attended.
Here's my opinion for the shift in crowd demeanor: It was all over TV and radio in Chicago that Ed had been at Wrigley with Chris Chelios, who had the Stanley Cup. Of course, everyone knew Chelios would show up at the concert to showboat.
While it was cool to see the Stanley Cup, Chelios should have brought it out DURING an encore towards the end. Instead, he cockteases the crowd at the beginning from the balcony and gets the crowd revved up...for an acoustic concert. I think he got everyone's expectations up for a awesome night of surprises, and people got restless when the surprises weren't there.
Also, I'm guessing Eddie wasn't as well-rested for night 2, given he had been on a pub crawl from Wrigley to the theater.
My friends and I were shocked that Night 1 was better than Night 2. I wish he had done all of Brain Damage!
Here's my opinion for the shift in crowd demeanor: It was all over TV and radio in Chicago that Ed had been at Wrigley with Chris Chelios, who had the Stanley Cup. Of course, everyone knew Chelios would show up at the concert to showboat.
While it was cool to see the Stanley Cup, Chelios should have brought it out DURING an encore towards the end. Instead, he cockteases the crowd at the beginning from the balcony and gets the crowd revved up...for an acoustic concert. I think he got everyone's expectations up for a awesome night of surprises, and people got restless when the surprises weren't there.
Also, I'm guessing Eddie wasn't as well-rested for night 2, given he had been on a pub crawl from Wrigley to the theater.
My friends and I were shocked that Night 1 was better than Night 2. I wish he had done all of Brain Damage!
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Yeah, and especially all the fans going nuts for it. To make it worse, it's the Red Wings cup!!
And I kinda agree with the OP. He definitely revved up the crowd and was kind of a distraction in the anticipation of waiting for Ed. Oh well.
Camden 1 /2008
MSG 1 & 2 /2008
EV SOLO-- NYC 1 and NJPAC
Cheli is from chicago, operates a business in Chicago and loves Chicago. he was and always has been each time I've met him, genuine.
Is ths true?
Did he say that at the show or something?
I know Chris and he brings the Cup to Chicago not to gloat but because he's originally a Chicago guy and there are a lot of Chris Chelios fans here. Some of which are also big Blackhawk fans, who are happy for him and in awe of the Cup in any display. Pretty funny to see Sean Penn, John Cusack (I believe the JC Ed spoke about, and Chelios in the same box. Anyone know who, if anyone special, the couple in the same box was during Hard Sun? McCandless'? Vedders? Or just over-enthusiastic claim jumpers?
I think it was just a Friday night show and people got a little too energized. Thursday was better but a drop from a 10.1 to a 10 is ok in my book.
Yeah, i wanna know this too. I don't remember him saying anything at the show about it.
And I will always like Chelios for his contributions to the city and the Blackhawks. Was definitely a favorite player of mine growing up. But when he walked in, holding the cup, my friend and I just looked at each other, like what the fuck? I heard Cheli was parading around the city all day with it. I'll cheer Cheli, but not for the cup when it belongs to red wings.
Uhhh....Acoustic concert?
Neither concert was acoustic.
It was pretty much varied.
Nuclear fission
Oh god.
That show was not ruined. What are you talking about?
Nuclear fission
For the team that wins the cup, each player get to bring the cup with them wherever they go for a certain amount of time.
Some players have a party and serve chicken wings out of it. Some feed their dogs food out of it. It has ended up in many a strip club. Its like your metal friend for a week. Its been to hundreds of concerts.
Since Chris Chelios and Ed were friends from way back when they were teenagers, I didnt see it that odd that it was at an Eddie Vedder concert.
Eddie Vedder
Chris Chelios
John Cusack
All chicagoans who made it big. its no wonder they are friends.
Nuclear fission
Sep 96 - Toledo Aug 98 - East Lansing
Oct 00 - Detroit Apr 03 - Cleveland
Jun 03 - Detroit May 06 - Grand Rapids & Detroit
Jul 07 - Lolla Jun 08 - WPB & Tampa
Vedder: DC 1&2, Chicago 2
For gods sake, the crowd was so drunk it couldnt even do the sing-a-long for the damn cubs song!
And while this wasn't really a full "acoustic" concert, it was meant to be a quieter more mellow show than a PJ show at say the United Center. And the crowd seemed to totally forget that. After a while Ed realized what the crowd wanted and started in on the crowd participation songs.
And I agree with the person who made the comment about night one feeling like a west coast show, I was the last show in San Diego and while Ed was getting pissed at the crowd in SD, he was still in a better mood than the last night in chicago.
What do you expect from Cubs fans. They are a classless bunch.
I dont think Ed was in a bad mood. I think he was feeling out the crowd, realized there was much more energy than the night before, and altered the setlist.
Most of the screamers were women, from what I heard.
Yeah, thursday was more laid back, more locals. I think there were more people from all around on Friday, as it was the last show on the tour, and a Friday night.
Nuclear fission
I couldn't see the cup, but that would have been neat.
BTW though, I think part of the thing that sucks about Ed playing when a bunch of celebrities are there... I dont think there's that feeling of 'lets play a few more' because he wants to get back and hang out with them. And there's nothing wrong with that, but I was really hoping for just an insane last show and it was good, but nowhere near night 1 IMO.
So I won't blame the crowd even though in the TC secion I was in they were awful (screaming/yelling, singing out of tune, talking during songs, etc), but I will blame the fact that he had some many friends there.
But seriously, as for the other folks...WHY the fuck bother going to see Ed at such a nice venue, when it is CLEAR that he has had it with the people screaming out requests (I remember him mentioning something about putting quarters up his ass), only to get drunk, yell and scream YELLOW LEDBETTER!! Why??
And what was with the girl jumping up on the stage during Let My Love Open The Door??? It amazes me how some people lose total control of themselves when handed a beer.
Other than all of that nonsense, Ed was fantastic and fucking funny too!! It was great to see him in such a beautiful theater.
Regal Theater, 1994--most amazing night ever.
I think people need to realize that people that post on this forum, love Ed and truly appreciate his music. But obviously there are many other breeds of fans. You have people who love his music, are solid fans and respectful. You also have some "fans" that have heard Ten and some Vs on the radio. You probably also have some people who have just heard of Pearl Jam and that's it, just going to have a good time and drink. You just gotta realize there is a spectrum of fans.
So when you think of these low breeds which might represent say, 10% of the crowd. They don't know Ed is annoyed with screamers. They don't care or appreciate what a unique setting they're in. They want to hear some recognizable songs, get drunk, and have a good time.
It's just something that will never go away. However, it would be greatly reduced if they had no alcohol. That's the only fix I could think of. Or possibly having some kind of drink limit.
I'm glad you still enjoyed the show even with some of the dbags around you.
Sounds pretty cool to me that Lord Stanley was at the show.
He should have let the Cup sit on the stage.
are you serious?
did you even go to the show thursday????
the crowd was enthusiastic and full of energy
i also met alot of people from Milwaukee and other surrounding areas, so i dont think it was all locals...including myself from St. Louis
Yeah, I did. You can't help but lose yourself and your surroundings in some of those songs. I was especially moved by Throw Your Arms Around Me.
Regal Theater, 1994--most amazing night ever.
I was in Balcony 1, row X, seats 301-303 so pretty close to you I think. There was a huge drunk guy behind me yelling "INDIFFERENCE!" off and on. Not nearly as annoying as the Chelios Bitch though.
Oh god, yeah I heard that guy. And the girl yelling "Chelios!!" over and over needed to go far, far away. There were a few guys around me yelling for her to shut the fuck up. I felt like I was at a college dorm party.
Regal Theater, 1994--most amazing night ever.
The things people are complaining about though are common to basically any concert I have ever been to. People talking, drunken behavior, screaming during quiet songs... These are things I almost always experience at shows.
In particular, despite all the awesome people on this board, I have had some of the worst experiences with other fans at PJ shows. They just attract that 20-something drunken fratboy crowd. I wouldn't really expect an EV solo show to be much different, but what do I know.
Lighten up, and feel lucky you got to see one of the great songwriters of our time doing his thing.
The reason people complain about others screaming song requests is because they would sometime scream over Ed talking. It's not like a PJ show where they have it turned up to 11. People also yell out dumb requests that Ed would have to have the whole band there to play.
Ed was trying to put on a more intimate show than a typical PJ concert. It's a shame some ignored this and acted so boorishly. Most of the crowd was respectful of Ed at the DC show I went to, but the yelling to start to getting a little out of hand. Ed was able to handle some of it with a little humor, but eventually had to tell those people to basically shut the fuck up. At one point when he was trying to talk to the crowd people yelled out silly stuff and Ed had to tell them "I think this is more important" (not a verbatim quote). I think he was talking about the war, but I'm not 100% certain of that either.
Not sure why you were not able to get tickets, that sucks. But tickets were available for the shows the day before and the day after on stubhub.com (and probably other sites) for face value or even LESS than face value for nose bleed seats (where I sat night 1).
And I understand what you are saying about how concerts are normally noisy and full of people yelling, but this wasn't a normal PJ show. It was a sit down show, very relaxed, and Ed asked people to sit down and basically shut the fuck up.
When its just a guy and a guitar on stage playing slow quiet songs, people ruin the event by yelling drunk B.S.
I guess I should have checked stubhub... I looked on ebay and only saw tickets for 2x's face value or more. After going to Lolla, just didn't have it in the budget to spring that kind of money, as much as I would have loved to go.
Believe me, I understand the frustration people feel when people cant just shut up. I've never understood why some people will fork over loads of money to go to a show, only to spend their time talking through every song. Could have done that for free elsewhere.
I just think you should expect this type of behavior regardless. I know it was supposed to be a more intimate show, but I'm sure it still drew many of the typical PJ crowd. I've seen worse stuff going on at PJ shows than any other band, so that's why I said what I did.
That being said though, I'm sure if I was there I'd of probably been pissed too. Just try to focus on the positives. You all got to see EV last night!:D