From the Front Row to the Last Row, Wilco Shows Are a Hit

With the wind chill down to 2 degrees there aren’t many people outside on Monday at 4 p.m. in Uptown, except for the clustering of about 20 people standing outside the Riviera Theater, waiting in line for the third night of the Wilco Chicago hometown residency. With two hours to go before the doors open, blanket and hot beverages are aplenty as the fans try to move around to keep warm.

Sitting in folding chairs at the front of the line are Chris Cross and Leo Cahalan, who drove up from Michigan to go to the shows. Wrapped in blankets head to toe, exposing only a bit of their faces. They have been in line since noon, taking turns switching off from the bitter conditions with friends.

They purchased tickets to all five shows through the presale and have been waiting outside of each show early. Friday they got in line at 3 p.m. and Saturday at 1 p.m. and waited until the doors opened at 7 p.m. “We weren’t first (in line), but we were pretty close to the front, within the first 10 people,” Cross said from behind a thick teal blanket.

Getting in line early is something that Cross and Cahalan say they do at a lot of concerts, and not just for the chance to be close to some of their favorite musicians.

“Half of the fun is just spending time with these people and just the adventure of it,” Cahalan said, peeking out from under his hood, looking more like an artic explorer than a concertgoer. “A lot of us have met at these shows. You get to meet a lot of like-minded people. We might seem crazy to do this, but it’s a lot of fun.”

“It’s so worth it,” Cross added.

But not everyone finds bracing the cold for hours fun. Sitting in the last row of the balcony on Saturday are Jerry and Kim Voris who came from the suburbs. They have been to seven or eight other Wilco shows. After missing out on tickets though the wilcoworld.net presale (“those were gone in like 30 seconds,” Kim said), they purchased tickets for all five nights off Ticketmaster’s website the day they went on sale.

Sweat drips down Jeff’s face as he sits down for the intermission. “It’s hot up here, but it was even hotter last night down lower,” he said. “Last night we got here at 7 and we got to pick where we wanted to sit in the balcony, so we were right up front. Tonight we got here a little later, around 7:20 or 7:30, and the only seats we could get were in the last row.”

Although the view from the top isn’t as intimate as from the front of the stage, the seats in the balcony gave them the option of sitting down or getting up and dancing when they wanted. And they weren’t complaining.

“Where else can you pay $35 and hear this kind of great music for a night?” Kim said.

Hell is Chrome Clip

Handshake Drugs Clip

Muzzle of Bees Clip