WRIGLEY FIELD — Tying into Lollapalooza festivities, the first "large-scale" Park at Wrigley concert will also be the first big test for the plaza and its impact on the neighborhood.
Two bands playing the massive four-day festival at Grant Park this weekend will start off with shows Wednesday ahead of the Chicago Cubs vs. Arizona Diamondbacks game at Wrigley Field.
Starting at 3:15 p.m., The O'My's will perform a blend of soul, jazz and hip-hop first heard on their 2011 EP "Potty Mouth." Hailing from Chicago, the band has collaborated with Lolla headliner Chance The Rapper and Ab-Soul on their 2012 album, "Chicago Style" and has since produced two more albums.
Following The O'My's at 4:15 p.m. will be alt-pop band Capital Cities. The Los Angeles-based duo offers a "groove-heavy" performance highlighting their high-concept melodies and clever lyricism.
Gates open at 2:30 p.m., and the show is free, but open only to fans with tickets to the 7:05 p.m. Cubs game. Tickets to the game start at $29.
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The concert is not expected to cause any additional neighborhood disruptions compared to a regular game day, said Cubs spokesman Julian Green.
Green compared the Park at Wrigley concert to a similar O.A.R. parking lot show back in 2014, which was also free to ticket holders and included about 4,000 fans.
"While the Park is new, this is not the first performance we've had outside the stadium," Green said. "This is a pregame event ... we're not doing Lollapalooza here."
If a large crowd turns out for the plaza concert that overloads the Park at Wrigley's capacity, fans will be allowed inside the ballpark early and can watch the show from there, Green said.
The plaza's use was a point of contention for the city and the Cubs, who traded barbs over the law dictating how many events the plaza could host, how often alcohol could be sold there and who had access to the plaza during games and stadium concerts.
On game days, the plaza is only accessible to fans with game tickets — a rule meant to appease Wrigleyville neighbors who feared overcrowding and bars owners who didn't want the plaza drawing away their customers with cheap beer.
Although the concert itself will be over 1½ hours before the game, the gates opening at 2:30 p.m. make it count as a plaza access-limiting event, Green said.
The plaza can hold about 4,000 people, and 44th Ward Ald. Tom Tunney said that it was vital to keep the ballpark's capacity close to its current 41,000.
Fans packed the new Park at Wrigley, lining up outside the new western gate to get into the ballpark ahead of the 2017 home opener. [DNAinfo/Ariel Cheung]
Since the City Council approved the first-of-its-kind sports plaza ordinance last year, the Cubs have sought to sway public opinion to allow people without game tickets access to the plaza and to host more special events where alcohol is sold.
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During Opening Day celebrations in April, President of Baseball Operations Crane Kenney said the ordinance made for a "far more risky and expensive" plaza.
"We hope someday everyone can enjoy the park [without restrictions]," Kenney said.
But city officials said that the "unique" restrictions laid out in the sports plaza ordinance were a necessary first step in testing out a new concept for Chicago.
"We want to make sure we're crawling before we walk and before we run," Tunney said. "We definitely have some concerns about how [the plaza] is going to be managed — especially on game days — and that's why it's restrictive."
Currently, the plaza is permitted to host 12 special events, and only five can be concerts. Special events are those with attendance of at least 1,000 people, amplified sound or alcohol sales. That would also include allowing fans on the plaza to watch away playoff games if alcohol is sold.
The ordinance is set to last for three years, meaning it will expire in November 2019 without action from the Council.
The Cubs and Wrigley Field are 95 percent owned by an entity controlled by a trust established for the benefit of the family of Joe Ricketts, owner and CEO of DNAinfo.com. Joe Ricketts has no direct involvement in the management of the iconic team.
