Making The Parks Safe for Rock

By Scott Smith in Arts & Entertainment on Aug 29, 2005 1:35PM

Though the summer’s not quite over yet, yesterday’s Chicago Tribune took a look at what’s next for Chicago’s newest music venues.

The occasion is this week’s Tori Amos concert in Millennium Park’s Pritzker Pavilion. Despite the city’s previous reluctance to work with anyone resembling a rock musician, Amos is seen as a good compromise between those who wish to keep the space safe for jazz and classical music and those who are looking to get a piece of the lucrative pop/rock market.

Thanks to Lollapalooza, the city can now claim they’re open to hosting rock acts in its parks though it still sounds as if a prejudice against rock exists. The director of Millenium Park sounds almost apologetic for booking Amos and assures the gentle readers of the Tribune that “it's primarily an acoustic set, without a big band and lots of lighting and extra gear.” Jam Productions co-owner Jerry Mickelson believes her audience will be “appreciative not only of her but of being in this amazing pavilion in Millennium Park.” So Tori fans: be sure and genuflect as you pass The Bean.

Still, the rebirth of Lollapalooza was such a positive (read: profitable) experience for the city that more rock acts might find themselves playing in the shadow of the skyline. Officials estimate that over $7.2 million dollars flowed into the city’s restaurants and hotels thanks to the festival. The organizers of Intonation Festival also created a template for hosting music festivals in some of Chicago’s smaller parks. These successes have led even Clear Channel to consider booking less of Journey and Def Leppard and more of “the Killers and the Weezers of the world” into Northerly Island’s Charter One Pavillion for those who prefer less cock in their rock.

With the city developing better relations with rock promoters, we wonder what role the Chicago Music Commission will play in the next year.

Formed back in March with a mission of making Chicago’s music scene as legendary as those in New Orleans and Austin, the loose grouping of club owners, performers, and other behind-the-scenes folks have, so far, focused on recruitment and education. Upcoming seminars by the CMC include how to book bands at local venues and intellectual property rights.

Though Pitchfork Media got the lion’s share of credit for Intonation’s success, local promoters and talent bookers were really the ones who made the event a success. Chicagoist hopes the CMC works to create similar programming for the city and becomes more of a resource for up-and-coming bands that have their eye on snagging the opening slot at Lollapalooza 2006.