20 years of Wrigley Field concert memories

There’s that saying in baseball: If you build it, they will come. It’s a message the Chicago Cubs organization heard loudly in 2005 as it started to carve out a new use for the ballpark on non-game days, turning it into a popular concert venue.

Launching with Jimmy Buffett over Labor Day weekend in 2005, Wrigley’s live music program has thrived over the past 20 years, staging 80 shows and becoming a proverbial field of dreams for music fans.

Whether waiting out Pearl Jam’s epic 2013 rain delay, seeing Tom Petty’s final Chicago show in 2017 or witnessing Pink fly around the Friendly Confines like a real-life Tinkerbell in 2023, there are many “you had to be there” moments. In fact, in 2013, Rolling Stone hailed Wrigley Field as number two in its list of 10 best arenas and stadiums in America.

“Wrigley has become synonymous with music in the summer, and that is something we want to continue,” said Crane Kenney, Cubs president of business operations. The milestone 2025 concert season starts Thursday with Post Malone, who will be followed later this spring and summer with performances by Chris Brown, the Jonas Brothers, ATEEZ and Stray Kids (the latter two marking a first for K-pop at the ballpark).

“What we’ve learned is we have fans who love music here that may never attend a baseball game,” Kenney said. “It’s a little bit like Red Rocks or Madison Square Garden. [Fans] don’t want to just see Pearl Jam. [They] want to see them at Wrigley.”

It’s not just the fans. Bands love it, too — especially locals like Fall Out Boy who played in 2018 and 2023. “Growing up on the north side of Chicago, going to games at Wrigley is a spiritual experience,” band member Pete Wentz said. “The sounds and smells there take me back to going as a kid. There is no more hallowed and iconically Chicago rock ‘n’ roll moment than getting the chance to play a show there.”

“Jackie Robinson, Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig played here, and I stood in the place where they once stood. … My Great Aunt Rosella’s ashes are part of the dirt in the outfield,” said Naked Raygun’s Jeff Pezzati, recalling when the band opened for Foo Fighters in 2015. The Chicago punk icon’s manager, Lou Lombardo, also remembered how meaningful it was for bassist Pierre Kezdy, who died in 2020. “After his stroke in 2011, he wasn’t sure if he would play bass again. After I spoke to Dave Grohl, and the Wrigley show was put into motion, Pierre used that as motivation to get strong enough to play.”

Kenney even recalled how Roger Waters, on his own accord, called into WXRT after bringing “The Wall” to Wrigley in 2012 to gush to the radio station about playing the ballpark, comparing it to the acoustics of opera houses in London.

Kenney and Carl Rice, former vice president of large scale Wrigley Field events and projects, were instrumental in the original idea and development when the Tribune Co. owned the Cubs. It all germinated as a byproduct of the electric 2003 Cubs team that came alive in postseason glory. “The 2003 team captured everyone’s imagination,” Kenney said. That team and the 1984 team enthralled fans but also broke hearts by failing to reach the World Series. Those teams put more organizational focus on “our chase to win a World Series and just being more competitive,” Kenney said.

To do that, the team wanted extra sources of revenue to help offset Major League Baseball’s competitive balance or “luxury tax” on teams with payrolls over a certain threshold. “Tickets and concessions, media rights, parking and suites … it’s all subject to a big tax … [but] that’s not true of music, music is exempt,” Kenney said. Early on as part of the pitch to media, Kenney said, “Elton John is going to help us win baseball games.”

The Ricketts family, who bought the Cubs in 2009, helped spur the concert program with a $1 billion investment in 2016 to build out the neighborhood as part of the 1060 Project. And, in fact, of the 80 shows at Wrigley, 56 have come after 2016. In more recent years, the Cubs organization has established an internal workforce, Wrigley Field Events, to lead the curation of more non-baseball events, including concerts.

Prior to 2005, Wrigley had at least one other concert — an orchestral performance in 1922. Stadium rock came to the ballpark late. At other venues, it dates back to the early days of the music. The Beatles’ performance at Shea Stadium in New York in 1965 was considered a milestone. Nearly a decade earlier, in 1957, Elvis Presley played at Sick’s Stadium in Seattle. Today, Boston’s Fenway Park has a similar model to Wrigley, going back to 1959 when Ray Charles first played a one-off and 1973 when the Newport Jazz Festival brought acts to the park. Thirty years later, in 2003, when Bruce Springsteen reinvigorated the concept at Fenway, Kenney was there and recalled “it was a proof of concept that it could be done.”

Navigating the Cubs’ schedule and the neighborhood

Not that it’s ever been an easy undertaking. Booking shows at Wrigley Field is a bit like trying to solve a Rubix cube. “The best way to kind of explain this is it’s really a funnel,” said Morgan Bucciferro, Cubs senior director for operations and guest experiences.

The first thing to consider is who’s actually touring during the relatively small window of typically Memorial Day to Labor Day and has open dates when the Cubs are on the road. “From there, we have to see which tour specifics will actually fit into our stadium,” Bucciferro said, noting that not every production works for the unique setup of Wrigley Field. For example, for U2’s 360° Tour in 2009, the giant claw stage design wasn’t feasible for Wrigley, and the band moved to Soldier Field.

Part of the challenge is the design of the 111-year-old ballpark, which still uses its large “elephant gate” on the first base line to load in concerts (the name is a throwback to when Wrigley hosted circuses and brought in elephants through the opening). The gate is far from where the concert stages are constructed in center field, making labor a consideration. As is protecting the playing field. In 2015, then-manager Joe Maddon made headlines for claiming an AC/DC show in September “totally messed up our infield.”

Protections have advanced since then. “We’re really fortunate that technology has come such a long way on the terraplas and the membrane they put down to protect the field,” said Kenney, adding that there’s no seating on the infield as another protective measure.

“In terms of playability, we really haven’t had any issues. … Morgan and her team are miracle workers in getting the field back in playable shape.”

It’s a process that takes roughly four days, said Bucciferro. “What we typically like to see is two days to build the stage. … On the third day, we bring in the tour production. On the fourth day, we host the show, and then that night we begin to tear down.”

Other issues have also been worked out over the years. Unlike other stadiums, Wrigley Field sits in spitting distance of residences and schools. When Fall Out Boy played in 2023, the show was so loud that people as far as Lincoln Park and Ravenswood said they could hear it. It was chalked up to unusual “atmospheric conditions” with intense winds carrying the acoustics farther than normal.

In 2013, current 44th Ward Alderman Bennett Lawson, who had also been on the staff of his predecessor Tom Tunney since 2004, said the office was flooded with complaints after Pearl Jam played until 2 a.m. A year later, the city’s night game ordinance, which also governs concerts, was amended with steep fines to basically ensure it couldn’t happen again.

Of that event, Kenney said, “It was an in-the-moment decision driven by the artist who wanted to continue the show. The city worked with us to make it happen.”

It still remains one of his — and many fans’ — favorite memories, particularly seeing Ernie Banks join Eddie Vedder onstage for a duet of Vedder’s song “All The Way” just a year before Banks died. Uber Cubs fan Vedder, who was not available for comment for this story, also has been known to play music in the team clubhouse and leave guitars behind in the players’ lounge as a way of bridging the gap since players never get to see shows at the ballpark.

In 2023, shortly before taking office, Lawson surveyed nearly 2,000 residents and found a largely positive reception to Wrigley concerts: 37% attended one or more shows that year and just 8% of residents in the ward wanted fewer overall concerts and events. Those who live in the 60613, 60614, 60640 and 60657 zip codes are also invited to sign up for a “Wrigley Field Neighbors” program that offers regular communications and allows residents who are registered to buy concert tickets before the general public. Plus, it’s good for business.

“When Lady Gaga played on Monday night most recently, we were having dinner at El Jardin [on Clark Street] and the owner came over and said, ‘Can we have every concert on a Monday night?’” Ald. Lawson said.

He too is a big fan of the shows, and recalled how special it was to see the first Wrigley concert, which happened a week after Hurricane Katrina. As part of the night, Buffett performed the Steve Goodman song “City of New Orleans” in the bleachers during a solemn moment.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ 2017 show was meaningful for another somber reason, as it was the last time Petty played Chicago before his death that October. “I don’t like to look at that tour in that way,” said Heartbreaker keyboardist/pianist Benmont Tench. “Lord, I wish he was still here. We were playing really well and none of us expected it.” Tench recalled having the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go up to the organist’s booth at Wrigley and play. “To hear it ricochet around the stadium, it was marvelous.”

As for the future of the concerts at Wrigley, Kenney said the organization wants to have “more music and more diversity. Smaller shows with less of a stage build-out are a possibility. This season, the Landmark Records installation at Gallagher Way, a small gathering area just outside the ballpark, also offers live music around the 1:20 p.m. home games on Fridays. “We hope to be a place for everyone to come and find something for themselves,” said Bucciferro. “Baseball is always going to be our number-one priority … but we really try to make this a place where people can see different types of music and experience different types of acts.”