Tinley Park officials want word to spread: “We are the World.”
They haven’t officially borrowed the title of the 1985 USA for Africa hit, but they are playing up their association with the facility once known as The World Music Theatre.
Starting with Cher in 1990, it brought musicians from around the world to the Southland.
Fast forward 20 Warped Tours, 17 stops at Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville, lots of Lollapaloozas and one strange trip by the Grateful Dead, and the facility now known as Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre remains a premiere attraction in the Chicago area.
Brad Bettenhausen, village treasurer and a historian with the Tinley Park Historical Society, said the facility’s many name changes haven’t been a problem.
Still, he avoids confusion by calling it “the music theater.”
“It’s really been an asset to the community,” he said. “When it opened in 1990, the only large outdoor theaters were Poplar Creek (in Hoffman Estates) and Alpine Valley (in Wisconsin), and both of those were a hike.”
Poplar Creek closed a few years later, and Alpine Valley remains in Wisconsin, leaving Tinley’s 28,000-capacity music theater as one of the Chicago area’s main, and largest, outdoor venues.
Jon Reens, a marketing official with facility owners Live Nation, said the open-air nature of the facility offers patrons more than just a musical show.
“We have a short time to enjoy the weather around here,” he said. “If you get a nice warm day to enjoy the sun, fresh air and the company of friends, this building lets you do that.”
Live music, he said, is better when it’s enjoyed outside and with lots of fellow fans.
Reens said he’s enjoyed lots of performances at the theater over the years, especially Lollapalooza in 1991, which was his third-ever concert.
But more than any individual concert, he said some recurrent experiences stick in his mind as favorite memories made at the theater.
“One of the great experiences is standing in the crowd when the lights go down, and there’s the roar of 28,000 people,” he said. “It’s really loud.”
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Among the acts scheduled to make crowds roar this summer are Future, Iron Maiden, Def Leppard, Rammstein, Train, Incubus, Rod Stewart, Depeche Mode, John Mayer and Brad Paisley.
Returning are the Vans Warped Tour and classic rock pairings such as Boston and Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, and Deep Purple and Alice Cooper.
There’s also a “season ticket” package available for six country acts appearing this summer, Reens said.
Reens said he’s excited about the Rammstein show, as it’s the German band’s only Midwestern appearance this summer.
But he also played up the diversity of genres coming to the theater.
“Part of the fun of music for me is seeing something different,” he said. “To have the ability to go out and see different genres of music at different times is appealing to me.”
That appeal is what Tinley Park officials are hoping to latch on to.
“Like Indianapolis is thought of as the place for racing, we want people to know Tinley Park is the place for music,” Bettenhausen said.
He said that wasn’t always the case such as a 1990 visit by the Grateful Dead, when concertgoers decided to park their cars on the adjacent Interstate 80 rather than wait in traffic to get to the theater’s lots.
“You look back on those things, and it makes you smile, though it didn’t at the time,” he said.
Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
19100 Ridgeland Ave., Tinley Park
Information: www.livenation.com/venues/14482/hollywood-casino-amphitheatre-chicago-il
Upcoming concerts
June 2: Future: Nobody Safe Tour
June 15: Iron Maiden
June 24: Def Leppard
June 27: Rammstein
June 30: Train
July 1: United We Rock Tour featuring Styx and REO Speedwagon
July 7: Hyper Space Tour featuring Boston and Joan Jett & The Blackhearts
July 8: Sam Hunt 15 In A 30 Tour
July 22: Vans Warped Tour
July 28: Dierks Bentley
July 29: Incubus and Jimmy Eat World
Aug. 5: Rod Stewart and Cyndi Lauper
Aug. 30: Depeche Mode
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Sept. 2: John Mayer
Sept. 6: Deep Purple and Alice Cooper
Sept. 17: Matchbox Twenty and Counting Crows
Sept. 23: Brad Paisley