A Little Chicken Fried and a Beautiful View on a Thursday Night

A couple of weeks ago was our inaugural concert at Charter One Pavilion on Northerly Island. We took in the Zac Brown Band and was pleasantly surprised. As someone who doesn't necessarily fancy country it was all in all a good show. Whether it was covering Bob Marley or John Mayer or simply jamming to some of their own joints, it's clear that this country act may be popular but they're pretty amazing musicians as well.

Anyway, the main point of this post wasn't to analyze the show but to give our two cents on the venue. Although it's not the easiest place to get to, it really is a special venue. As most people who've been to Northerly Island can attest, it has a pretty spectacular view. Besides being so close to the lake, the views of the city are in our opinion the best in the city. On this particular Thursday night the temperature was perfect, the breeze was refreshing and the crowd inside Northerly Island was festive.

The actual venue (ie seating and grounds) isn't that spectacular. It's rather standard. Regardless, it's a relatively intimate venue and it didn't seem like there were many bad seats. For the price we paid to get in, there shouldn't be bad seats (it was $50+ for one general admission ticket). Also alarming was the price of beer...$11 for a 16oz beer is ridiculous.

With that in mind, a better option in our opinion would be to call up some friends, bring some chairs, pour a drink and sit outside the venue and enjoy. That's what we will be doing next time (unless you're really into the group).