While the rest of Chicagoland was attending Bruce Springsteen concerts at historic Wrigley Field on Wednesday and Friday nights, I was busy checking for loose change between our couch cushions. My summer concert budget has dropped to zero after some home repairs/improvements. Rather than spending my youngest daughter’s college fund for tickets, parking, concessions, and a Bruuuuuuuce t-shirt, I passed on making the always challenging journey to Wrigley. Just kidding. We don’t have a college fund for our daughter. By the way, it’s cool having a ballpark right in the middle of Chicago, but that makes for some transporation challenges unless one lives near a CTA train stop. We live at least 30 miles away from the closest.
It turns out that I could have saved on tickets by just sitting outside of Wrigley.
But it’s not like I didn’t see a concert. There was no challenging drive, train ride, bus transfer, etc. to see this show. I hopped on my bike to catch this group in our town’s downtown park.
It seemed somewhat odd to hear “Zombie” by the Cranberries in our sleepy little town. The group is Classical Blast who weave classical pieces into rock songs. But what really captivated me was their version of Kate Bush’s “Running Up The Hill” with lyrics from “Hurt” by Nine Inch Nails sung like Johnny Cash’s version topped with “Adagio for Strings” by Samuel Barber. It worked. In fact, it worked so well that I may go see their whole show (I had to leave early on my bike before it got too dark). Just like Springsteen, Classic Blast is playing two concerts in our area. I’m considering making the short drive to Warrenville when Classical Blast performs outside the Warrenville Public Library. Well, maybe not exactly like Springsteen. It’s free!
Jim Flanigan Looks at the World 