By: Lauren Walker

I think it’s fair to say that most of you probably don’t know what the Budweiser Made in America event is, or you just think it’s that festival in Philadelphia that Jay Z headlined and promoted last year. Well, it may be one of the greatest events in the music industry to tour the U.S. with very little to no advertising, when in fact all it is, is advertising. And everything is free. Yes, EVERYTHING IS FREE.

As a promotion for Budweiser’s Made in America festival they travel the U.S. hitting up 30 metropolitan cities bringing you some of the biggest names around. Surprisingly the local shows were first leading up to the weekend long festival which celebrated its first year last year. I am not sure exactly how many years Made in America has been traveling around doing these free shows, because like I said, there is little promotion behind the event, but I have personally attended the past 3 years. The artists change by city and is only announced 3 weeks in advance, which also opens the RSVP list. Some of the headliners this year that have preformed and/or are scheduled too are Big Gigantic, Griz, Paper Diamond, Savoy, Walk the Moon, RJD2, Griz and Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr. 7 Shows still have not made their announcement yet, but most likely it will be one of those artists.

I attended Made in America last Thursday in Minneapolis and saw Big Gigantic and Robert Delong, who absolutely brought the house down in the intimate venue of Mill City Nights. If I haven’t peeked your interest yet with the idea of a free concert, don’t forget it’s also free Budweiser all night (or until they run out, which does happen), free food, free shirts and other Budweiser memorabilia that they hand out. Here’s everything you need to know about having the best free night of your life.

1. RSVP as soon as your city becomes available. At a certain point they stop accepting RSVP’s and will say that the event is full and will no longer email out tickets.
2. Only 1 RSVP per person, so tell your buds
3. Bring your id, seriously it’s a Budweiser event I shouldn’t even have to remind you. No id no entrance.
4. Bring your cell phone and be prepared to tweet/facebook promote the event because this is how you earn all the free stuff (including the T-Shirts), and possibly a meet and greet with the artist.
5. Show up early. I can not hesitate this more. A ticket does NOT guarantee your entrance. There’s free booze so don’t waste your time or money pre-gamming
6. Even though the event is free and literally everything else included, bring some $1’s to tip your servers folks.
7. Arrange for a sober ride or cab, free drinks = mega wasted.
8. And have fun!

For all you Chicagoans reading this now, you’re in luck, Made in Chicago is tonight at Joe’s on Weed street! Featuring Walk the Moon and The White Panda starting at 8pm. Don’t have a RSVP your thinking? Well here’s a little secret that Budweiser and the venue don’t want me to tell you, you don’t really need one.

It really varies by venue and city but the past two years I have gone in Chicago, both times at the Congress, they never even took tickets. What they are looking for is a headcount, and once fire codes are reached that’s it. Budweiser has RSVPing because if they didn’t, hundreds of people would show up last minute and it would be chaos.

I RSVP’ed this year to the Minneapolis show because I am on top of my shit, my friends not so much. What did I do? Printed out numerous copies of the same ticket and handed them out, and everyone got in. The barcode scans more than once so do not fear. Also keep in mind that the people working these events are also there for the free beer and music, so as long as you are not a dick to them you should be good to go. Forgot to print extra tickets? Pull up the QR code/ticket on your cell phone and you can also scan that numerous times. I’m a genius I know. And last resort if you don’t know anyone with a RSVP just go early, wait in line and IF they even ask you for a ticket just say you RSVP’ed but were under the influence you didn’t need the physical ticket since it was a free event. I have also had friends use this method and get in. But please don’t be an idiot and purchase a free ticket off of someone, because there is always that asshole trying, and its way to easy to get in without one anyways.

And with that I leave you a bit wiser, and adding a show to your summer lineup. Wish I could be there for Walk the Moon so enjoy it for me Chicago!

For more information on cities, venues, artists and where to RSVP visit their website.

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