Cubs aim to hold rock shows at Wrigley
Will concert plans rekindle conflict with neighbors?

November 30, 2004

By Jeremy Mullman

Wrigleyville, meet Margaritaville.

The Chicago Cubs want to hold rock concerts at Wrigley Field, possibly as soon as next season.

Cubs President Andy MacPhail, who recently raised the issue with Alderman Tom Tunney (44th), says the team would like to have one “act” every other year, which could mean a series of concerts by one performer.

“If we did anything in the future, which is a big ‘if,’ there’s a lot of questions we need to answer first,” says Mr. MacPhail. “We’d have to preserve and protect the field, because we’re a baseball operation first. . . .There are neighborhood protection issues. . . .And you also need to find the right attraction.”

The right act could be aging singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett, who, according to two people familiar with the matter, would likely be the first musician to play Wrigley.

The prospect of Mr. Buffett’s followers, known as “parrotheads,” invading the neighborhood could re-ignite the long-running feud between the team and its neighbors. The two sides reached a tentative peace in February, when the City Council passed an ordinance requiring the Cubs to address neighborhood problems like traffic congestion and litter in exchange for permission to hold more night games at the stadium.

Alderman Tunney says he hasn’t made up his mind about the concerts. But, because the February agreement specifically refers to baseball-related activities, he says concerts are “obviously beyond the scope of the ordinance.”

Representatives of several neighborhood organizations said they thought the concert plan could complicate the team’s relationship with its neighbors at a time it’s trying to win public approval for a proposed expansion and renovation of Wrigley Field.

“The Cubs have stepped up to the plate recently when it comes to neighborhood protections,” says Gregg Kiriazes of the Lake View Citizens Council. “But I tend to think there’s more exposure with this kind of event than with a baseball game.”

“I can’t think of them doing a more stupid thing at a time they’re trying to have a warm and fuzzy relationship with their neighbors,” says Charlotte Newfeld, of Citizens United for Baseball in Sunshine. “People are going to go ape.”

Mr. MacPhail says the team intends to work with neighborhood groups before going ahead with any concerts at the field. “’Tentative,’ really, is too aggressive a word for where we are,” he says.

Asked if there could be a concert at the stadium during the upcoming season, Mr. MacPhail said, “It’s conceivable.”

Baseball fields have become fashionable concert venues in recent years. Last year, rocker Bruce Springsteen’s tour played the first-ever concert at Boston’s historic Fenway Park, as well as shows at baseball venues in New York, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee and San Francisco. Mr. Springsteen also played at Chicago’s U.S. Cellular Field, which also hosted the Rolling Stones in 2002.

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