The second leg of our journey took us to Chicago land, more precisely to Ravinia Music Festival in Highland Park. The drive from Columbus was much easier though double the time.
Ravinia is unlike any outdoor theatre I have ever encountered. We were practically the only people without several coolers and lawn chairs. It appears that most people attend concerts here with the intention of hanging out with friends on the vast lawn. I was stunned by what people were allowed to bring onto the grounds. People had small tables, lawn chairs, and one guy was carrying a full case of beer.
Once again Squeeze opened, though I wasn't surprised by this seeing as Cheap Trick is from Chicago. The set list was exactly the same as the night before, except there was time for one encore - "Pulling Mussels." The guys were far more animated tonight than in Columbus. Chris was performing his customary Chris shuffle, John was all over the stage, and again Glenn was channeling Jimi Hendrix and at one point rubbed the guitar strings on the microphone stand.
Sartorially speaking, Glenn and Chris were in the same outfits as the night before, John was dressed in purple, Simon was Simon, and Stephen treated the crowd to his spectacles and a fetching red smoking jacket.
My seats were way far at the back of the pavilion, but not for long. By the end of "Annie Get Your Gun," we had moved to the third row from the stage. Much better than being in the third to last row.
It seems, however, that at Ravinia, security frowns at people dancing in the pavilion. Two women behind in me in my "new" seats were sternly lectured and security gave me a look, too. Well, once we got to "Good-Bye Girl," I paid that directive no mind and stood up to dance, and it seemed that Chris was urging me as he looked squarely at me, and motioned with his hands to stand up. I was, of course, promptly reprimanded and I think by this time Glenn had noticed. Two songs later, three people in the middle started dancing and once security pounced on the , one of the offenders was quite snippy and was removed.
The next song was to be "Cool for Cats." Before it started Chris said something to the effect of he saw the one fellow get tossed and that everyone should stand up and dance. We did for the rest of the show and there was nothing security could do!
Well, I have to head home tomorrow, though I wish that I could attend the Cleveland show. Now I'm thinking about Hamilton in August.
2 comments:
Toni - I was there last night too. I live in the area, so I go to Ravinia often. When I go to the symphony or broadway shows, average age of the crowd is 65. They are not used to dancing on the North Shore. When Squeeze was there 2 years ago, I was in the 5th row. They had a security guy in each aisle at the front of the stage, so the crazies wouldn't rush the stage. Even though most people were seated throughout.
Last night, the Cheap Trick fans behind me talked thru the whole Squeeze set. :-(
Kim
Hi Toni, thanks for your review.
A couple of years ago in Liverpool (UK) the security guards tried to get us all to sit quietly and luckily Glenn saw it and quickly said it was ok with them and that he'd personally refund anyone who complained that they couldn't see as a result!
When one of our crowd asked the security guard what exactly he was worried about, he said that they didn't want anyone climbing on they stage, to which the reply was "what, at my age?!"
It is so frustrating, isn't it?! It's hardly the sort of music that lends to sitting and clapping politely at the end of each song.
Glad to hear that you were able to get up and dance for at least some of the set and had a great time.
Liz
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