Like so many of us, I have been out of the habit of going to Chicago’s great live venues. First Covid made it impossible, and now the city’s perpetual construction season has made it a chore to visit any of our town’s popular arenas. But an unlikely series of events had me in three different stadiums during three consecutive weekends.

Barb and I have seen live performances by both the Eagles and Steely Dan pre-Covid, so when I heard they were coming to the United Center I thought we should pass on this bit of nostalgia, especially since the bands were lacking (apologies to Bob Stroud) the late-greats Walter Becker and Glenn Frey. But when a neighbor logged into Ticketmaster and grabbed 4 tickets for the Saturday night show, we agreed it would be fun to spend the evening with our friends, along with Donald Fagen, Don Henley, and Joe Walsh et al.

Having dinner at the UC’s in-house restaurant allowed us to beat the traffic crunch and the burden of parking first at a restaurant for dinner and a second time for the show. We were barely in our upper balcony seats when the show began. Steely Dan sounded a little muddy, but the Eagles rocked, or rather countried, with country superstar Vince Gill handling much of the lead vocals. A good night at the United Center.

Ever been to a minor league hockey game? I never had, but last autumn my silent auction bid for Blackhawks tickets at a charity event was a winner and the Blackhawks prize was accompanied by two tickets to the American Hockey League Chicago Wolves. I couldn’t attend the Blackhawks game, but I took my 9-year-old granddaughter to see the Wolves at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont.

On a sound meter, the roar after a Wolves goal was loud, the cheer after the singing of the National Anthem was louder, but nothing broke the sound barrier like the on-ice fireworks. The sound was intense and a bit scary. Only a pretzel and Blue Gatorade gave my granddaughter enough staying power to last until the second intermission.

Did you know Cirque de Soleil was back in town? The French-Canadian troupe played several weekend performances at the Now Arena in Hoffman Estates. Friends invited us to join them at the show, and we decided “Why not?”

The show was called Crystal and was unique for Cirque de Soleil in that the performers were all on ice–except when flying through the air on their trapezes! It was a two-hour spectacular that surpassed my childhood memories of the Ice Follies and the Ice Capades. Great creativity and skillful performers left the crowd cheering for more.

My arena triple play was fun, but now spring is here. Time for outdoor venues, concerts, and festivals. See you at the ballgame!

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