Both Chicago & Celebs Show Out For Chance's Surprise Metro Show
Photos by Rene Marban
Amidst an already busy Lollapalooza weekend, extended to four days in honor of the festival's 25 year anniversary, Chance the Rapper took to Twitter around noon yesterday to announce his surprise show at the Metro Sunday evening. Considering it took Chance only minutes to sell out U.S. Cellular Field's entire 40,000+ capacity stadium with his Magnificent Coloring Day, the opportunity to see Chance in Chicago in a room that fits just over 1,000 people is an opportunity most fans never thought they'd be experience again. In an effort to make sure his tickets reached his most die-hard hometown fans, Chance elected not to sell any tickets online - telling fans to get in a car. After tickets sold out at the Metro box office, Chance proceeded to drop off tickets at a few his favorite establishments around the city: Jugrnaut, the Harlold's on 87th, Fat Tiger Workshop, and Lou Malnati's.
Ahead of the show's 10 PM doors, the line stretched all the way down Clark and a few more blocks down Racine. In addition to the stars they were expecting to see on stage, fans in attendance noticed there were no shortage of other celebrities in the building. Tweets and Snaps reporting sightings of Malia Obama, Bryson Tiller, D.R.A.M., Peter Rosenberg & Zoe Kravitz flooded the net.
Twelve hours after announcing the show, Chance, backed by the Social Experiment, took the stage in front of an ecstatic hometown crowd. Starting off the set with songs from 10 Day & Acid Rap, it was almost as if he pulled the same setlist from the last time he headlined the venue in 2013. The biggest difference this time around is Chance and the band looked like giants on the stage. And while metaphorically they certainly can be considered such, they physically looked it. Talking to Donnie Trumpet after the show about the observation, he understood. Noting that despite all the times he's played there, the stage seemed so much smaller tonight. As the show triumphantly continued on Chance worked in some of his most notable feature verses - "Baby Blue" with Action Bronson, "Ultra Light Beam" with Kanye West to name a few - as well as Coloring Book standouts like "Mixtape", "Summer Friends" & "All Night". Chance capped a spectacular show with a mini-dance party to "No Problem", thanked his family and his fans, and disappeared back stage. The event marked another wonderful weekend in Chicago, and will make for a fine footnote to one of the best years for music the city's ever seen.
