It is only fitting that we should start off with the Allstate Arena (in Rosemont, a suburb of Chicago), as we live only half a mile away from it. Cool, right? Well, it makes for bad traffic especially when Justin Bieber (gag), the Who (yay) or Green Day (bigger yay) showed up.
Here is what Tom has to say about it as he has been there countless times (at least a hundred). He even was there at the opening show.
The Allstate Arena first opened its doors in May 1980 as the Rosemont Horizon with Ted Nugent headlining the first live concert held there. The arena seats 18,500 and is the home of the Chicago Wolves AHL hockey team, the DePaul Blue Demons Men’s basketball team, the Chicago Rush of the Arena Football League and the Chicago Sky Women’s basketball team.
The Allstate Arena is also the home arena when the WWE Wrestlers come to town. It is also an annual stop when the Ringling Brothers Circus comes to Chicago every fall. Plus it is the favored arena of most rock bands when playing in Chicago. Fun Fact: The arena makes a cameo appearance in the Scorpions video for “Big City Nights”
T and A Travel Almanac 
It bums me out that venues are selling out with commercial names. The Grateful Dead used to play Rosemont Horizons all the time in the 80s.
Yup, Tom saw the Grateful Dead too. Thanks for stopping by.
Good luck with the AtoZ Challenge. Happy blogging and travelling 🙂
Thank you, good luck to you too!
What an awesome artist (Ted Nugent) to be the opening act! Allstate Arena sounds HUGE!
Connie
I’m visiting from the A to Z Blog Challenge
Peanut Butter and Whine
Thanks for stopping by, have fun with the challenge!
LOL…all I could think of was All State Insurance when I saw your post. Didn’t know there was an arena by that name. Where is it? I’m not one to go to concerts, but would imagine the traffic to be a real pain in rear.
It is in Rosemont, a suburb of Chicago. I don’t drive and we live off the main drag, but when my bf goes to work or has to go to the store it can be a pain.
That would really suck to live that close. Especially on Bieber night.
…. and Bieber was here for 2 nights, at that. Two too many.
Good luck with the challenge! I participated last year and had a blast!
Donna L Martin
http://www.donasdays.blogspot.com
I did it last year too, but with a different blog. thanks for commenting!
I’m new to the A to Z Challenge and found you through it.
I will be following yours as I live only a few hours from Chicago and it is my favorite big city. Looking forward to hearing about some great places to visit the next time I go there.
Awesome …on both counts! I am new to Chicago, so it’s still an adventure for me. Good luck with the challenge.
Hey Jeff. It’s amazing who you run into out wandering around cyberspace.
I’m heading to Chicago this summer (for BlogHer) so I’m looking forward to following along during A to Z…
Awesome! You’ll really enjoy my Y post then. Have fun with the challenge, and safe travels.
Alexandra
I saw Weird Al Yankovich play there in the 80’s.
Dropping by from A to Z. First year participating and very excited.
Brett Minor
Transformed Nonconformist