CheekyChicago

The Ravinia Festival is a true gem of Chicago (er – Highland Park), located just a Metra ride north of the city (and conveniently a few blocks from my house). Every summer, the festival opens its gates to some of the best of the music world, including Carrie Underwood, Crosby, Stills and Nash and the B-52s. The lineup is always impressive and so is the venue, drawing in tourists and locals alike. So when my friends and I saw the Counting Crows on this year’s lineup, it was a no-brainer that we had to go.

Like everyone else who attends with lawn seats, we packed a delicious picnic dinner from Foodstuffs, an obscene amount of wine and blankets for the early evening show. If you don’t absolutely have to have a seat a few feet away from your favorite artist in the pavilion, the lawn is the place to be. You can hear the musical perfectly, and you still get to lay, socialize and eat dinner on the sprawling grassy area. And, lawn tickets are obviously cheaper.  Not to mention…the people watching.

Basically, Ravinia provides a perfect night of entertainment. The night we attended, the Counting Crows were fantastic, bringing surprise guest Augustana with them onstage for the majority of the show. There’s something so personal about being there, listening to live music the way you want to, with the food you choose and the friends you want to surround yourself with. There’s nothing else like it.

I’ve become so spoiled that a lot of nights that Ravinia is live, I sit in my backyard and listen to the music from home, too lazy to actually get over there for a full night out. On nights with strong winds, I can hear it almost perfectly. But even I have learned after another summer season and my night at the Counting Crows concert that if you’re not in the park, it’s just not the same.