What’s The Difference Between ARChitect, GLOBAL, and ICON

Yeah, the ticketing for ARC can be a little confusing with the different tiers, so let me break it down for ya. The three types of tickets are the ARChitect (GA), GLOBAL (VIP), and ICON (VIP+). The good news is that there are still 3-day and single-day tickets available. The bad news is that all the prices are at tier 4, so it’s gonna be a little pricey.

Late Nights Outfit

The ARChitect basically gets you into the festival and priority access to purchase tickets for all ARC After Dark events (all three ticket types will give you priority access before the public). If you have the extra money to spend and are over 21, you’ll probably want either the GLOBAL or ICON pass. Both VIP tickets will have a separate entrance from GA, where you’ll be greeted with a “welcome cocktail,” air-conditioned restrooms, and access to the Global lounge and elevated viewing areas. The ICON adds an all-inclusive private bar, free food/hors d’oeuvres, massage/general spa service, and free lockers. ARChitect and GLOBAL also can purchase lockers.

Dark Bass Outfit

You don’t have to be 21+ for the VIP passes, but I feel like you’ll get more bang for your buck if you are. Honestly, you can have a helluva time with a GA ticket. So if you don’t mind port-a-potties or are tight on cash, then I say stick with GA.

How To Get To Union Park

The three-day celebration will be held at Union Park, just west of downtown Chi-town. I DO NOT recommend driving to the event. There are parking lots south of UP, but those will probably be full by the time the festival starts. Plus, you don’t want to be partying and driving because of safety concerns for you and your car.

Techno Princess Outfit

If you’re staying downtown, you could take the Green (Adams/Wabash) or Pink Line (54th/Cermak) to Ashland Station, across the street from UP. The metro will cost you €2.50 for a two-hour or $5 for a day pass. ARC will probably end at 10 pm, which is good news because the metro will run till about 11:45 pm. However, getting into the train station will be a bit of a cluster buck if you stay till the last song of the day because the turnstile onto the platform only allows one person at a time. So plan accordingly.

Ride share from downtown will run between $15-$20, depending on demand/surging prices. If you are going to be taking ride share FROM UP, then it’s going to be a bit of a pain due to the hoard of people who are also trying to call a car. I suggest you walk east and try to find a well-lit-up area to call your car. Last year, my friend and I walked from UP to downtown (2.5 miles) because we could not secure a ride due to demand. So, be prepared for the muggy summer night after ARC as you wait for a car.

Million Dollar Baby Dress Outfit

The Music At ARC

ARC is a celebration of house music in a city where its roots run deep. So it’s not surprising that the Arius team would bring such a stacked lineup. Without boring you with a massive list, check out the link for the complete list of artists. Here are my picks for each day.

Dark Arts White Outfit

Hypnosis Swim Set Outfit

While You’re in Chicago, You Should…

If you’re like me, who traveled to the Windy City for ARC, I suggest you embrace the adventure. Eat a deep-dished pizza from one of them semi-casual restaurants in River North, take an architectural boat tour down the Chicago river or force your friends to walk 3 miles up and down the River Walk after ARC hungover.

Unlike most festivals that are in the middle of nowhere, ARC is actually in the heart of Chicago, so you can double dip as a raver and a tourist! Or don’t, whatever. 

ARC’s lineup was smacking! I wouldn’t have expected anything less for a festival held in the city where house music was born. Saturday kicked the weekend off with sets from megastars like ZHU, Fisher, and Cirez D. The best set from a DJ I’ve Never Seen Before award goes to Layton Giordani. Let me tell you; he brought the effin heat! His set was so hot it started raining because everyone there needed to cool off.

Sunday’s lineup was also fire; literally, it was humid. Being an old man who attends festivals, I was pretty worn out from the day before. Luckily, I visited Dr. Will Clarke and Hot Since '82 for a prescription of bangers kicking my rear back into gear. When the oontz-oontz got a bit too much for me, and I wanted something more boots-and-cats, I took a timeout at the main stage with Jeremy Orlander, Camelphat, and the king himself, Eric Prydz.

Aside from having such a stacked lineup, the guys at Auris did a great job designing the four stages. Each dance floor felt like a different festival with unique decor and vibes.

The Grid was a massive field of green grass with plenty of space. An enormous screen sandwiched between smaller monitors and speakers sat at the front, surrounded by shipping containers painted in neon green with splashes of blue and yellow. At night, strips of LED lights filled the dark park with vivid color as the flock of strobe lamps perched on top of the stage swept the crowd with an assortment of lasers.

Elrow was the second biggest stage at ARC, but it was definitely the most intoxicating. Decorative balloons dyed in flamboyant shades of pink, purple, and green covered the ceiling. I remember seeing performers in strange costumes walking around the dance floor on stilts led by exotic handlers as rainbow confetti rained down like we were at Carnival. It was all weird and confusing but funky and exhilarating, a sample of the original Elrow in Spain.

Between The Grid and Elrow was the GoodBus. Which, as you can probably picture, is a fully-functional mobile renovated school bus with a 10,000-watt machine! Aside from this festival, this party on wheels has made its way through Electric Forest and Summer Camp.

Expansion was the dustiest stage of them all. There were times when I thought the lasers were drawing designs on steam generated from a machine, but nope, it was clouds of dust. My nose is starting to close up just thinking about it. However, having the bathroom located in the back of this stage was clutch since not many people knew about it. So, thank you.

Getting to Union Park was pretty easy. I took the L train the first day (the CTA trains are beautiful and easy to use, BTW) and a rideshare the second. Getting out of the park was a different story. My friend and I walked back to our hotel on Sunday since we didn’t want to wait for transportation. The humidity did not make the 2.5 miles trek easy, nor did the sweat-soaked jeans I wore. 

Even though the festival ended at 10 pm, the party continued with ARC After Dark: official afterparties spread across five Chicago clubs both nights, which isn’t surprising since Auris is a band of club owners and those in the nightlife industry. There was Blacklizt at Radius, Will Clarke at Spybar, the Adam Beyer-less Drumcode takeover at Concord Music Hall, and many more. I only had the energy to attend one, which was the PRYDA AFTER PARTY BABY! Thus completing a goal of mine, seeling all three of Prydz (current) alias in one weekend. 

Besides getting walked through when I was trying to dance, I found that everyone was pretty chill; everyone there was just trying to have a good time after a festival drought. There was a lot of black attire. The outfits are similar to those seen here at savormeditation, but just in black with more black. Oh, and also a bunch of psychedelic Hawaiian shirts and overalls.

The thing I’ll remember the most about ARC is the people. ARC reminded me how magical it feels when you make a new friend over your shared love of music and overpriced water, or how sometimes all you need is a weekend running from stage to porta-potty with your tribe to feel like everything is going to be alright.

All in all, I had a fantastic time. If you have a chance to reconnect with your crew, then I would highly recommend it. 10-out-of-10, I would hella do it again!