CHICAGO -- More than 45,000 people attended Chance the Rapper's Magnificent Coloring Day, a music festival taking place this past Saturday at U.S. Cellular Field.
Kanye West and Common made surprise appearances at the festival, giving the event a true South Side feel.
"It was a terrific event for the ballpark," said Brooks Boyer, the White Sox senior vice president of sales and marketing. "To have that many people here and to have Chance, really it's his coming out party, he's a guy from the South Side of Chicago.
"There's a meaning by doing it here on the South Side and then to have Kanye West show up, Common show up. Obviously when you look at the three largest players on that hip hop scene from the South Side of Chicago, it's those three."
Bulls All-Star Jimmy Butler joined Lil Wayne and 2 Chainz on stage, while Alicia Keys and John Legend put on outstanding performances in their part of the show. Comedians Hannibal Burress and Deon Cole also made appearances, while Chance was moved by the opportunity to play at the ballpark.
There was no issue with crowd control, per Boyer, and "rave reviews" came in from the fans from a sightline perspective. This event becoming such a success gives thought to the White Sox to having one type of concert promotion per season.
"I would think once a year would be about right, just based on the baseball schedule," Boyer said. "Could we do more football down the road? We have that [Northern Illinois University] game coming up. Yeah, probably. But it would have to be in November. Once a year would make sense.
"It was a well-behaved crowd and it helped that it was all day long. People were flowing in, so being a music festival it was probably a little bit easier than being a one-time show where everyone shows up at the same time."