By Bob Bong
When SeatGeek bought the naming rights to Toyota Park in 2018, it promised to bring premier concerts, international sporting events and music festivals to Bridgeview.
That promise was delivered in spades last weekend when more than 100,000 people descended on Bridgeview to attend the three-day Lyrical Lemonade Summer Smash Festival, breaking attendance records at the stadium that was built in 2006.
The crowd of mostly young people came to see more than two dozen of the biggest hip-hop bands performing on three stages Friday, Saturday and Sunday including Friday night’s closer Kid Cudi.
The crowds were bigger than those that came to see Jimmy Buffett, Jennifer Lopez or Eric Clapton at previous concerts or watched the Chicago Fire in its early days.
This year’s festival was moved from Douglass Park on Chicago’s West Side, where it had been held since 2018, to the stadium originally built for soccer.
Police reported traffic jams as the thousands of fans made their way down Harlem Avenue to the stadium, but overall, the crowd was well-behaved.
In addition to the music, fans were treated to an assortment of foods from vendors ranging from Portillo’s, Michelin-starred Filipino restaurant Kasama, and the Tamale Guy, to cult favorite Harold’s Chicken.
There was also a restaurant operated by Brian Fisher, the former chef at Entente, that was serving dishes inspired by artists performing at the festival.
Besides the food and music, SeatGeek was decorated with funhouse-style mirrors, giant Minions, and even a miniature basketball court.
