Sara Noah looked nervously inside the fan club entrance for Adele's concert Sunday at the United Center.
Noah and a friend said they drove about eight hours from the Kansas City area to Chicago for the first of three sold-out Adele concerts at the United Center this week. Fans were first in line on Sunday at the fan club doors, where they hoped to receive the tickets they bought online.
“It makes me a little worried,” Noah, 38, said.
Ticket sellers have named Adele the most expensive show in Chicago this summer. The average resale price for the British singer-songwriter's Sunday show was $566 on Friday, according to data from ticket search engine SeatGeek. Tickets sold out quickly when they went on sale in December.
As if the ticketing process wasn't frustrating enough, the doors to the United Center opened 30 minutes late on Sunday. Hundreds of fans lined Madison Street between Wood Street and Damen Avenue as they awaited Adele's first Chicago performance in five years.
Elisabeth Scheidel was among the first fans outside the United Center Sunday. Scheidel, who lives in Comstock Park, Mich., brought her two daughters, but the original plan was to go to the show with more family.
Scheidel said her family tried a few ways to scrape together seven Adele tickets, including constantly refreshing the Ticketmaster concert site. This strategy did not work.
“We had to break up,” Scheidel, 56, said.
Two of her family members are going to see Adele near Detroit in September, while two other family members couldn't get tickets that fit their schedules.
The Scheidels said they made the best of it, though, singing Adele songs on the two-plus hour drive to Chicago. They said they have been fans since Adele's album '19' was released in 2008, and praised her song lyrics, which often refer to overcoming grief.
Olivia Scheidel, 20, said she stuck Adele quotes on her backpack in high school.
“Her songs are remarkable,” said Emily Scheidel, 28. “I think it's just a common feeling…”
“Knowing you're not alone,” Olivia Scheidel said, finishing her sister's sentence.
Although Adele referenced ex-boyfriends and breakups at times during her Sunday show, which lasted more than two hours, the concert provided a romantic setting for more than a few couples.
Ben Tancl, of Pingree Grove in Kane County, said he paid $1,500 for him and his wife to enjoy the concert's gold hospitality package, which included a pre-show reception and priority check-in. Tancl, 27, said the concert was the couple's first night out since his wife gave birth to their first child in the fall.
“Who else are you going to pay that much for?” Tankle said.
Adele's tour in support of her '25' album continues Monday and Wednesday at the United Center. Doors are scheduled to open at 6 p.m.
Adele last performed in Chicago in May 2011 at the Riviera Theatre.
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