Last Saturday, Billy Corgan made his Ravinia debut. So did I. In fact, for a magical five minutes or so, we sang together, but more on that later. Located in Highland Park, Ill., Ravinia Park houses a variety of outdoor and indoor performing arts facilities. Ravinia was originally created in 1904 as an amusement park. Now, the Ravinia Festival is the oldest outdoor music festival in North America. Whether you’re on the lawn or seated in the Pavilion, each concert is an intimate, classy event. There really is no other concert venue like Ravinia.

The evening started with a performance by Corgan in a private dining room for VIPs. Corgan, accompanied by Jeff Schroeder, did a 30-minute set, followed by a Q&A. I was literally within several feet of the performers. Before ending this session, Corgan assembled his friends from RESISTANCE Pro and informed us we would be joining him on stage later. He proceeded to run us through a quick practice. I was going to share a stage with Billy Corgan! We eventually settled into our seats in the Pavilion and enjoyed about two hours of beautiful acoustic music. Prior to his last song, we were escorted backstage and then introduced by Corgan. Twenty or so of us gathered around the microphones as Corgan jumped into “Of a Broken Heart.”

Then it hit me, as I looked out at the thousands of fans. I was singing chorus with Billy Corgan on stage! Plus I was experiencing this with my friends. Time flew by, yet stood still. This was about as surreal and magical as it gets. Backstage after the show, we all could not believe what just happened. It became more real when hundreds of pictures and videos started floating around the Internet the next day. Other friends are still asking me how it was, and all I can say is, “Unbelievable.”

— John Wroblewski, online contributor