Toyota Park - Brilliant Job But Boring Location!

[Catch&Release]

We had a great time at the show last night. Toyota Park hit a home run.

Parking lots were very fun.

We weer sitting in B2, row 1 on the aisle. Great view, great sound. Would've been perfect except for the giant Yellow Album aholes next to us who spent more time taking pictures of themselves and getting in our way during the first ten songs than actually listening to the concert.

Security was outstanding. Unruly drunks were dealt with swiftly and sternly. The idiots who tried to dance on their chairs were kept down and the aholes who tried to cut into better seats were sent back to their seats. Security was the best I've ever seen.

The only downside is the venue is in such an industrial wasteland. Depressing driving into the venue, but, hey, I've never been to Camden which I hear is even worse.

Jimmy's set list was great. Didn't really care for the juke joint duo cuz they were just like every other delta blues duo. Jake s much more of a treat.

The bummer was that Chicago featured the most flat out wasted people I've ever seen at a show. It seemed like 1 out of 20 people was staggering drunk. Just kind of annoying. It would have been really bad were it not for the amazing security. They kept the show from being ruined by the unruly drunks.

We had a great time. Likely wont return to that venue unless we score tix in the 1st ten rows because of how lackluster the venue's location is. Tailgating next to urban/industrial sprawl was kind of disappointing. Plus at times it literally stank like cow poop. Are the stockyards nearby???

[flipflopgirl]

If you've never been to Camden don't complain about the location!!!!! in 2006 my friend Jeannie and i were parked right behind the Camden County Jail!!!! we could see the prisoners in the windows! The up side of this was that there were a ton of cops in our area and we fed them and gave them water...one of them walked us up to the venue at show time!!!!


sorry about the cow poop smell!

but glad you had a good time all in all! sounds like the venue is very receptive to having Jimmy and us parrotheads there!

[ragtopW]

. Plus at times it literally stank like cow poop. Are the stockyards nearby???

it wasn't cow poop.. it was bull poop..


look at how many Cubs fans were there..










I'll be moving along now...

[popcornjack]

Ahhh, memories. A concert facility in a sh*tty part of town, people who don't the difference between Jimmy Buffett and an all-you-can-eat buffet, and more rampant drunken stupidity than you can ever imagine possible. It's like being at a show at the Meadows in hartford:



They had to take the picture from that angle. if they did it the other way you'd see the huge landfill, the vacant lots, and the sex toy stores.

[Bandito2510]

The area has been building up... however, Summit which is the suburb right on the border with Bridgeview is still pretty industrial. The smell you caught was probably the wonderful aroma of the Argo Corn Starch company firing up... the smell made me dizzy back in high school when we played soccer against the school down the street from the stadium.

The stadium was originally supposed to be built on 79th and Harlem, where there are more stores, etc. but part of the land there is owned by Buddhist monks and they decided not to sell their land because the then mayor of Bridgeview was "dishonorable". Also, the land had apple trees that the monks consider sacred. Thus the site was moved to the former trucking yards. Rumor has it that the trucking yards across the street are going to be bought out to build restaurants, hotels, etc. The area is pretty middle class, but as you go south on Harlem, it changes to upper middle class slowly but surely. It's no different from any other part of Chicago...

[Flowerfield Girl]

Jimmy can play in my backyard.
We can very easily accomodate about 400 people, between our yard and the golf course, we can all pitch in to make up the difference for less people. Have the show exactly how we want it. Tailgate on the northside of our lot, park the motorhomes, rv's and tents for passing out later.
It is easy to get here via I94 or I80-90. I make a great breakfast in the morning. And we have a kegerator, tiki bar and pool.
But then it would cost about $10,000 per ticket. Don't think I can find 400 people to do that!

It couldn't have been that bad, just think we are spoiled. Enjoy the show, ignore the drunks and seat jumpers, (cuz we've all been there), have a great time and RELAX!

[Haunterlp2]

The area has been building up... however, Summit which is the suburb right on the border with Bridgeview is still pretty industrial. The smell you caught was probably the wonderful aroma of the Argo Corn Starch company firing up... the smell made me dizzy back in high school when we played soccer against the school down the street from the stadium.

The stadium was originally supposed to be built on 79th and Harlem, where there are more stores, etc. but part of the land there is owned by Buddhist monks and they decided not to sell their land because the then mayor of Bridgeview was "dishonorable". Also, the land had apple trees that the monks consider sacred. Thus the site was moved to the former trucking yards. Rumor has it that the trucking yards across the street are going to be bought out to build restaurants, hotels, etc. The area is pretty middle class, but as you go south on Harlem, it changes to upper middle class slowly but surely. It's no different from any other part of Chicago...

Actually, the stadium was moved because there was simply more available room at 71st and Harlem avenue. At 79th Street, the available space would have caused too many concessions to the design of the facility to make it feasible. While there was some stories about how people around the 79th street sight were concerned about the stadium, that was not the over-riding point that caused the move of the stadium to what overall is a better location.

And yes, there are plans to add hotels and other entertainment to the site, so Toyota Park is definately an area that has a bright future.

LP