We see the benefits to the families of this 6,000-seat music theater, which will give them a venue that offers far more seats than typical traditional theaters (the outdated Arie Crown Theatre, as a point of comparison, has 4,188 seats, Madison Square Garden Entertainment’s busy Chicago Theater has 3,600 seats and the struggling Auditorium Theatre has 3,875 spots) and thus allows for higher grosses. This new venue will be attractive to figures such as John Oliver, who don’t want to play impersonal arenas, but who did a “double” at the Chicago Theater last year and could make as much money in the new place by telling his jokes only once. It might also be possible for Chicago to fight back against the growing number of Las Vegas “residences” of stars such as Adele or Katy Perry. Why should Sin City have all of that business?

But there is no question that this new venue will pull business from the historic theaters in the Loop, vital to that still struggling neighborhood and surrounded by restaurants and other pieces of infrastructure. The Brandon Johnson administration also should remember it has done next to nothing about the gorgeous and historic Uptown Theatre, a potential catalyst for that diverse but economically uneven neighborhood but that still sits unrestored. That has to get done.

Also true: The venue will put more pressure on the city’s smaller arenas, such as the Wintrust Arena and the Credit Union 1 Arena at the University of Illinois Chicago. There is only so much high-demand product to go around, although competition is not necessarily a bad thing, especially if you see this development as adding to the overall economic pie rather than slicing it in a different way. Time will tell.

Hate to tell ya this "Amigo", but that is sort of the essence of how life works.

I think that and the Park West are the last two big venues I haven't really been to. Took a pass on LCD Soundsystem last May. People don't speak warmly of the acoustics. But yeah, I wasn't counting the Aragon or Radius because they're not really auditoriums per se.

The future holds the possibility to be great or terrible, and since it has not yet occurred it remains simultaneously both.

Sounds like Chicago has too many theaters that suck.

The future holds the possibility to be great or terrible, and since it has not yet occurred it remains simultaneously both.

I think I've only purposely searched out shows at the Park West about two times in my life, so this is not an observation that has a lot of empirical data behind it, but the Park West seems to have fallen out of the rotation. In the 90's, it seemed like it was comparable to Metro in terms of the number, and quality of acts, that would come through. Now, I never hear it mentioned.

I am not a legal expert, how many times do I have to say it?

The future holds the possibility to be great or terrible, and since it has not yet occurred it remains simultaneously both.

The Park West is a horrible venue. I never understood how it has survived over time.

The crisis consists precisely in the fact that the old is dying and the new cannot be born; in this interregnum a great variety of morbid symptoms appear.

$7bn.

Spent by the Reinsdorf and wirtz families.

I dunno. I've seen a bunch of shows there and haven't found it to be worse than the Riviera.

The future holds the possibility to be great or terrible, and since it has not yet occurred it remains simultaneously both.

The future holds the possibility to be great or terrible, and since it has not yet occurred it remains simultaneously both.

The future holds the possibility to be great or terrible, and since it has not yet occurred it remains simultaneously both.

The future holds the possibility to be great or terrible, and since it has not yet occurred it remains simultaneously both.

Has anyone been to Outset yet? I'm going there later this month to see Why?, was supposed to go for Julia Holter in May but they had to move it.

yea i'm going in November for the Slaps, haven't been yet either .

The future holds the possibility to be great or terrible, and since it has not yet occurred it remains simultaneously both.

sounds cool. I will say the fact they are Ticketmaster is annoying.

The future holds the possibility to be great or terrible, and since it has not yet occurred it remains simultaneously both.

Yeah, that surprised me, because Radius is AXS and everyone hates Ticketmaster.

The future holds the possibility to be great or terrible, and since it has not yet occurred it remains simultaneously both.