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Chicago Live Events: Concerts, Musicals That Are Coming To The Windy City In 2011

Chicago is set to welcome a slew of great artists and musicals in 2011. Leading the way for concerts are U2, Bon Jovi, and Sade. Don’t forget the annual musical festival, Lollapalooza. The huge, multi-stage event takes over Grant Park in early August.

As for the upcoming Broadway musicals, get your Chicago tickets ready for Burn the Floor, 9 to 5: The Musical, and Les Misérables. Also, Wicked returns to Chicago for an eight week run at the Cadillac Palace Theatre.

Below, ChicagoSmarts looks at the top concerts and musicals coming to the Windy City in 2011. We list the major events coming to town, the venues at which they’re scheduled to appear, and their performance dates. Hopefully, our primer will keep you from missing any of the great musical events scheduled to visit Chicago in 2011.

CONCERTS

The Black Keys
Aragon Ballroom
Dec. 30, 2010 -Jan. 1, 2011
Alternative rockers The Black Keys will play three shows in Chicago at the end of 2010 and beginning of 2011. The band from Akron, Ohio is touring to support their 2010 release, Brothers, which features the smash hit “Tighten Up.”

Weezer
Aragon Ballroom
Jan. 7-8
Weezer wraps up its “Memories Tour” in Chicago on Jan. 7-8. During the band’s first night at the Aragon they will play their self-titled debut, known as the “Blue Album,” all the way through. Then the following evening, Weezer will play its 1996 release, “Pinkerton,” in its entirety. Since the albums are fairly short, Weezer will fill out each night’s set playing their other hit songs.

Linkin Park
United Center
Jan. 26
Linkin Park’s 2011 North American tour launches Jan. 20 in Sunrise, Florida. Less than a week later, Chicago welcomes Linkin Park to the United Center. The band released its fourth studio album, A Thousand Suns, in September of 2010.

Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith
Chicago Theatre
Feb. 12
Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith play the Chicago Theatre on Feb. 12. It’s the third show of the duo’s 2011 outing, “2 Friends Tour.” Grant is known as the “Queen of Christian Pop” while Smith is a three-time Grammy Award winner and one of the most influential contemporary Christian artists around.

Slash
House of Blues
Feb. 13
Slash visits Chicago and the House of Blues on Feb. 13. The gig is smack dab in the middle of his three-month long world tour. The former Guns N’ Roses guitarist released his self-titled solo debut in March of 2010. In July, he released a live album of his solo work featuring vocalist Myles Kennedy.

Kesha
House of Blues
Feb. 24
Kesha’s first headlining tour comes to Chicago on Feb. 24. The 23-year old “Tik Tok” singer will be performing at the House of Blues. Her North American trek is called the “Get Sleazy Tour” and it will support her recently released EP, Cannibal.

Bon Jovi
United Center
March 8
Bon Jovi ’s “Circle Tour” was one of the hottest concert tickets in 2010 and their 2011 world tour promises to be just as big. Bon Jovi plays Chicago’s United Center on March 8. In November of 2010, the New Jersey-based group released Greatest Hits, an album of the band’s hits singles through the years.

U2
Soldier Field
July 5
Due to Bono’s back surgery several dates from the band’s 2010 itinerary had to be moved to 2011. U2’s Chicago show is now set for July 5 at Soldier Field. The Irish band’s 360° Tour won “Top Tour” and “Top Draw” at the 2010 Billboard Touring Awards.

Lollapalooza
Hutchinson Field Grant Park
August 5-7
The annual Lollapalooza music festival is scheduled for Aug. 5- 7 at Chicago’s Grant Park. No word yet on 2011’s lineup, but in 2010 fans with Lollapalooza tickets saw Green Day, Soundgarden, Arcade Fire, and Phoenix.

Sade
United Center
August 5-6
After more than a decade away from the spotlight, Sade returns in 2011 with a 50-date world tour. Sade comes to Chicago for two concerts at the United Center on Aug. 5-6. The British band, featuring the sultry voice of singer Sade Adu, is touring to support their 2010 release, Soldier of Love.

MUSICALS

Million Dollar Quartet
Apollo Theatre
Residence Show
Million Dollar Quartet dramatizes an impromptu jam session among legends Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash that took place in December of 1956. The Tony nominated musical is currently running at the Apollo Theatre and has been playing there since September 2008.

Wicked
Cadillac Palace Theatre
Dec. 1, 2010-Jan. 23, 2011
Wicked returns to Chicago for an eight week run at the Cadillac Palace Theatre beginning Dec. 1, 2010. The Tony Award winning musical is the Windy City’s longest-running show. Having debuted in Chicago in 2005, the show about the Witches of Oz ran for three and half years at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts Oriental Theatre.

9 to 5: The Musical
Bank of America Theatre
January 18-30
Broadway’s 9 to 5: The Musical is based on the 1980 movie Nine to Five. Dolly Parton not only starred in the movie but she also wrote the music and lyrics for this Tony nominated musical. The witty and clever show will run at the Bank of America Theatre from Jan. 18-30.

Les Misérables
Cadillac Palace Theatre
Feb. 2-27
It’s one of the greatest musicals to ever grace a stage and in 2011 it’s returning to the Windy City. Les Misérables is scheduled to play at the Cadillac Palace Theatre from Feb. 2-27. The epic production is the world’s longest running musical and the third longest running show on Broadway. The first U.S. tour was launched way back in 1987.

Burn the Floor
Bank of America Theatre
Feb. 1-13
The Broadway sensation Burn the Floor will be in Chicago from Feb. 1-13 at the Bank of America Theatre. Admired by both critics and fans alike, this high-energy show features 20 champion dancers. If you like “Dancing with the Stars” or “So You Think You Can Dance” you’ll love Burn the Floor.

Rain – The Beatles Experience
Ford Center for the Performing Arts Oriental Theater
Feb. 8-13
This Beatles tribute show delighted fans during its run at the Neil Simon Theatre on Broadway. In 2011, the faux “Fab Four” invade Chicago. Rain – The Beatles Experience will sell tickets to the Ford Center for the Performing Arts Oriental Theater from Feb. 8-13.

Next to Normal
Bank of America Theatre
April 26 – May 8
The Tony nominated Next to Normal is perhaps the greatest Broadway musical that features electroshock therapy. Chicago welcomes the critically acclaimed show to the Bank of America Theatre from April 26-May 8. The powerful and mesmerizing musical features a wonderful pop/rock score by Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey.

Spring Awakening
Ford Center for the Performing Arts Oriental Theatre
May 3-8
Spring Awakening comes to Chicago for a six day run May 3-8. Tickets for Spring Awakening will be sold at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts Oriental Theatre. The show’s music and lyrics were written by Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater. The original Broadway cast featured Glee’s Lea Michele.

If you consulted a cartographer about Chicago, he would map out some 215 neighborhoods and 77 community areas within the city’s limits. From Albany Park to Wrigleyville, each district is unique unto itself.

One North Side area is known as Uptown, with well-defined bordering districts of Foster to the north. Lake Michigan to the east, Montrose and Irving Park to the south, and Ravenswood and Clark to the west. Uptown is also generally considered Chicago’s entertainment district. The neighborhoods within Uptwon are Buena Park, Sheridan Park, Little Vietnam, Margate Park, and Andersonville Terrace, also known as North Uptown.

Once the Northwestern Elevated Railroad constructed a terminal near Montrose and Broadway in 1900, downtown residents came calling in search of fun. Film stars including Charlie Chaplin and Gloria Swanson even worked on projects at Argyle Street’s Essanay Studios. Soon enough, the Uptown Theatre, Aragon Ballroom, Riviera Theater, and Green Mill Jazz Club would all spring up.

In addition to silent film works, Uptown Chicago has long been cited as being influential in various emerging art movements such as the jazz age, the Gilded Age, the swing era, the Lyceum Movement, the big band era, and more.

At the center of the action is Uptown Square which received designation as a National Historic District in 2000. Despite its longevity, the district as a whole has been enjoying a great revival of late with new restaurants and shops taking up residence.

Among Uptown’s attractions, the Aragon Ballroom continues to be a thriving venue for live music. On the marquee, legends the likes of Frank Sinatra, Duke Ellington, and Lawrence Welk have given way to contemporary giants such as U2, The Smiths, and Metallica.

Where once the Riviera offered live jazz performances alongside movies, now it is also a concert venue; and the Uptown Theatre, once an ornate movie palace, is currently undergoing a transformation toward the same ends.

At the Green Mill Gardens, which was fashioned after the Moulin Rouge in Paris, the Green Mill Jazz Club once claimed Al Capone’s right-hand man “Machine Gun” Jack McGurn as its proprietor. The club is still a proud host for jazz greats, as well as a Poetry Slam founded by Marc Smith.

An Asian influence is very strongly felt in Uptown, with Argyle Street boasting a variety of ethnic restaurants and groceries including Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, Laotian, and Cambodian, among others.

On the opposite side of Chicago is the downtown theater district which boasts historic theaters such as Cadillac Palace and the Majestic Theatre (now Bank of America Theatre). When it opened in 1921, the Chicago Theatre was dubbed “the Wonder Theatre of the World.” The architexture and themes of its sections were inspired by the Paris Opera House and Royal Chapel at Versailles.

Also in the area is the Ford Center for the Performing Arts (originally known as the Oriental Theatre). Once a tribute to Asian art replete with turbaned ushers and a “hasheesh-dream décor” consisting of Indian mosaics, elephant-throne chairs, and glazed Buddha statues, the Chicago landmark was restored to its original glory in the mid-1990s after a period of disrepair.

Welcome To ChicagoSmarts Blog

Chicago is a big city.

With nearly three million residents it’s the most populous city in the Midwest and the third most populous city in the United States. If you include the surrounding area, known as Chicagoland, then Chicago anchors a metropolitan area containing nearly 10 million people.

But why is Chicago so big? Did all these people come for Chicago-style pizza? Did all these people come to visit Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower), the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere? Did all these people come to root for the Chicago Bears, one of the NFL’s two original franchises?

Actually, Chicago’s meteoric rise from its first permanent settlement in the late 1770’s, to its incorporation as a city in 1837, to its rebuilding after the Great Fire of 1871, and finally to its current status as the center of industry for the middle-third of the United States has to do with one thing. Chicago is a major hub for transportation.

Initially, the “Chicago Portage” connected the Mississippi River to the Great Lakes. This made the Chicago area one of the most strategic locations in the interior of North America. In 1848, the area further enhanced its position as the country’s premiere transportation center with the completion of the Illinois & Michigan Canal. This waterway was replaced in 1900 by the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. Not only was this new canal shorter it also reversed the flow of Chicago River. So instead of flowing into Lake Michigan, the Chicago River now flows into the Mississippi.

With the advent of the locomotive, these canals became obsolete. Of course, Chicago adapted to this new mode of transportation and retained its title as the country’s transportation king. Today, six of the seven Class I railroads meet in Chicago and nearly half of all U.S. rail freight passes through the city. Chicago is also a major hub for passenger trains. Amtrak has several key lines departing from Chicago’s Union Station.

The aviation industry certainly didn’t skip Chi-town. The city is served by two major airports, Midway International and O’Hare International. The latter is the world’s second busiest airport. Both are hubs for major carries, O’Hare for American Airlines and Midway for Southwest. The world’s second-largest airline, United Airlines, and the world’s largest aircraft manufacturer, Boeing, are headquartered in Chicago.

I’m mentioning the city’s standing as a transportation center to emphasize that if you need to travel across the United States, or if you need to ship something from one coast to the other, you or your package will probably have to go through Chicago.

A similar thing can be said about this blog. If you want to find something to do in Chicago, if you want to find one of the top 10 places to visit in Chicago or one of the top ten best Chicago entertainment Web sites then you’ll definitely want to “travel” to the new ChicagoSmarts blog and its companion site, ChicagoSmarts.

This site promises to bring you the most trusted information, the most thorough research, and the keenest knowledge of what’s going on in and around the city. And needless to say, there’s a lot going on in Chicago: Grant Park, the Navy Pier, the Field Museum, Wrigley Field, the Joffrey Ballet, Chicago Theatre, and the Magnificent Mile. In fact, there’s so much stuff going on you’ll need help finding the perfect activity that fits your taste and budget.

So to find the best the Windy City has to offer—whether it’s sports, nightlife, or restaurants—you’ll need to bookmark the ChicagoSmarts blog and come back as often as you can. It doesn’t matter if you’re a resident or a tourist; if you’re from the North Side, the South Side or the West Side; if you’re a White Sox or a Cubs fans because when you’re planning an outing in Chicago this is the blog you’ll want to visit.

So welcome to new ChicagoSmarts blog and enjoy your experience in Chicago.

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