Critical Role Live Show

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Last weekend, my husband and I went to Chicago to see Critical Role live. Around October last year, Critical Role announced live shows for their tenth anniversary. There were live shows in Australia, a live show the same weekend as Gen Con, and live shows in New York and Chicago. Being from the Twin Cities, Chicago is easy to get to, so I waited in the online queue and bought tickets. I had never seen Critical Role live before this, so I didn’t know what to expect from the show. It was so fun, and I’m glad I went to the show.

Image is a photo of me, wearing an orange wig. If you look closely at my eyes, they are green because I have my colored contacts in.

For the live show, I decided to cosplay as Keyleth. This time, though, I wore my green contacts for the first time. I bought them late last year, so I didn’t have a convention to wear them to. I had been saving them for the live show. I found the contacts to be comfortable to wear for hours and didn’t have an issue with my eyes being dry or the contacts being blurry. As part of my Keyleth cosplay, I had the orange wig and the crown, which were the most uncomfortable parts of the look. I only ended up wearing my floral crown for twenty minutes before having to take it off because it dug into my forehead. While I had a wig line on my forehead from wearing the wig for close to eight hours, it was worth it. Being in cosplay, I felt it contributed to the energy of the live show.

Imge is a photo of a charm bracelet on the floor. There are green and silver beads with the following letter beads "Keyleth"

The live show started at seven, but I was scrolling through the official Critical Role Discord, and some fans mentioned that a long line was beginning at the merch line. I convinced my husband we needed to get there early, so we called Uber and arrived at Wintrust Arena at 4:30 PM-ish. The merch line wasn’t nearly as long as I feared, but we immediately went to the line to wait. While waiting in line, several people handed me trinkets. Some fans made stickers, pins, buttons, and bracelets and would hand them out to people regardless of whether they were cosplaying. While in line, I received several stickers and a Pâté charm. I received so many trinkets that I had to start handing them to my husband to hold because I had no pockets. When we entered the arena, a Pike cosplayer handed me a Keyleth friendship bracelet. I am obsessed! I will never be taking this off and will wear it every day.

Image is a photo of the stage. There are at least 13 different yellow strobe lights pointing at the stage. There is one half of the stage with a red curtain background and the other half of the stage with a blue certain background. In the middle is a gold, carnival entrance of sorts. At the top if the Critical Role logo.

I didn’t buy VIP tickets, so we entered the arena at 5:30 PM when the doors opened for general admission. The stage was exquisite! It was lit up with blue and red lights. It gave off a darker carnival type of mood. The live show started on time and went till 12:15 AM or so. I wasn’t sure how long the show would be, as I know Critical Role’s streams are longer. I’m not going to spoil the live show, as the recording of the show won’t be uploaded for some time. It was entertaining, to say the least, and the energy within the arena was exuberant.

I am so happy I was able to attend the live show! This is my first time seeing Critical Role, but it might not be the last. I’m not sure how far I would travel for a live show, but if they are ever in Chicago again, I will be there.

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