VonOff1700 takes over The Rave/Eagles Ballroom the night before Thanksgiving

The Chicago drill rapper, a Polo G collaborator signed to Columbia, headlines Milwaukee's biggest ballroom on Wednesday, Nov. 25.

The night before Thanksgiving is one of the biggest going-out nights of the year, and this year a chunk of Milwaukee's hip-hop crowd already knows where it's headed. VonOff1700 headlines The Rave/Eagles Ballroom on Wednesday, Nov. 25, at 8 p.m., a date announced Oct. 29. Tickets run $26.75 to $33.25 through Etix, and with Chicago's rap scene so close by, a short-notice announcement in a 3,500-capacity room is a confident move.

If you're catching up: VonOff1700 is Davon Meeks, a Chicago drill rapper whose profile has climbed steadily over the last couple of years. He's signed to Signal Records and Columbia Records, and XXL featured him in its long-running interview series on breaking artists. His debut studio album, *#FreeMyHoodFuckYoHood*, came out in April 2024, followed that June by a deluxe *Bounce Out Edition* that added fellow Chicagoan G Herbo, according to his biography.

The Polo G connection is the one most fans know. VonOff1700 was a support act on Polo G's Hood Poet Tour in 2024, which Live Nation announced with him described as one of Chicago's hottest emerging rappers. The two have kept working together since: "Dead N****s," with Polo G and G Herbo, drew attention from HotNewHipHop, and the 2025 track "Move Wrong" was reviewed by Ratings Game Music as the pair going "full menace mode."

His follow-up project, *#TurntUpNotBurntUp*, raised the profile again. HotNewHipHop said the record lives up to its title, and noted a guest list that includes a posthumous King Von verse plus Lil Baby, Kyle Richh and Rob49.

A Chicago rapper, a holiday-eve Wednesday and a 3,500-cap ballroom: that's a statement booking.

Why this room? The Eagles Ballroom is the big hall in a multi-room building on Wisconsin Avenue, and putting a rising rapper in it rather than a club-sized side stage says the promoters expect a crowd. For a lot of Milwaukee fans this is also simply easier than the drive down I-94 to see him in Chicago, and the timing helps: college kids home for the holiday, nobody working Thursday, a whole city looking for something to do.

What to expect: drill is a genre built for call-and-response, and a hometown-adjacent crowd that knows every word tends to make these shows loud from the first track. Plan for security lines at the door on a night like this, and get there early if you want to be anywhere near the front.

Grab tickets now rather than counting on the walk-up. The night before Thanksgiving has a way of selling out the obvious plans, and this is the obvious plan.

Sources: VonOff1700 interview, The Break (XXL) (xxlmag.com); VonOff1700 (Wikiwand) (wikiwand.com); Polo G Announces THE HOOD POET TOUR 2024 (Live Nation Entertainment) (livenationentertainment.com); VonOff1700, Polo G, & G Herbo Aren't Playing Around On "Dead N****s" (HotNewHipHop) (hotnewhiphop.com); Polo G and VonOff1700 Go Full Menace Mode on "Move Wrong" (Ratings Game Music) (ratingsgamemusic.com); VonOff1700's "#TurntUpNotBurntUp" Lives Up To It's Title (HotNewHipHop) (hotnewhiphop.com); VonOff1700 Milwaukee tickets (Etix) (etix.prf.hn)