So we’re going to try and make up for some lost time by
featuring mini-reviews of each of those shows here today.
First up … The Four C Notes … the Midwest’s Premier
Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons Tribute band.
This one came up quite by coincidence.
We LOVED the musical Jersey Boys. It played here in Chicago for years and was a
very hot ticket. We were fortunate
enough to see the show several times … and the girls fell in love with it as
well, becoming HUGE Four Seasons fans in the process. (I’ll never forget the day when daughter
Nicki, at the age of 30, called me with sadness in her voice and told me “I
feel bad in a way that I will never see another show as good as ‘Jersey Boys’
ever again,” almost forecasting a dismal future forever with nothing particularly
exciting to look forward to in the way of musicals. (Meanwhile, she and her husband have since
seen several shows, became subscribers at Oak Brook’s Drury Lane Theater and
recently purchased tickets to see the hottest show in town, “Dear Evan
Hansen.”) Sounds to me like she's working through it! (lol)
When it was announced that a revival of “Jersey Boys”
was coming back to Chicago for one week only in April, I looked into getting
tickets for the whole family … but even if I sold all of my worldly
possessions, it still wouldn’t have raised enough money to enable us to do
so. (It’s absolutely unreal what
Broadway In Chicago tickets are going for these days … and then, once you add
on the ridiculous service charges, it’s like you’re buying an extra ticket and
a half that isn’t getting used!)
Obviously, we decided to pass … I was able to justify the loss in my own mind by saying that this all new cast
couldn’t possibly measure up to the Frankie Valli performance that we saw
during the show’s initial run anyway. (Meanwhile, the whole family … and most of the rest of civilization …
HATED the movie version of the musical that Clint Eastwood made. So did Valli, who asked Eastwood to use the
original Four Seasons recordings instead in the film, but was turned down in
favor of some actors who couldn’t even come close to capturing the unique sound
of the band.)
Unfortunately, we had been spoiled … NO ONE could ever
possibly measure up to “our Frankie.”
(Why couldn’t HE have been used in the movie version that will preserve
this story for all time???)
And then I saw an ad for a show coming to The City
Winery featuring The Four C Notes, advertised as “The Midwest’s Premier Frankie
Valli and the Four Seasons Tribute Band” … and guess what … The Four C Notes
features John Michael Coppola, OUR FRANKIE, in the lead role!!! (And the tickets were only something like $26
each … so four of us went to the show … and out to dinner … for less than the
price of ONE Jersey Boys ticket!)
Now we knew going in NOT to expect a “Jersey Boys” type
show … they couldn’t possibly pull off a show with that kind of glitz and
glamour on the small City Winery stage … but we did expect a top-notch vocal
performance … and I am happy to report that we got it.
Backed by just a four piece band who did their best to
faithfully recreate the sound of the records, the key to making this show work
was going to lay entirely on the vocals … but they had the goods to back it up
… so we were treated to a very entertaining 90 minute set.
“Frankie” told us up front that they were going to
feature a number of medleys throughout their set in order to be able to squeeze in
as many songs as possible and, for the most part, this worked. We heard a number of Four Seasons songs NOT
featured in “Jersey Boys” … and even some B-Sides and Frankie solo stuff … it
was a very varied set of music presented by vocalists that clearly love this
music. (Highlight of the night for me
was “C’mon Marianne,” probably my favorite Four Seasons song anyway, which they
executed brilliantly in this live setting.)
Kudos to the other vocalists who also took turns on
some of the leads … Devin De Santis, Dan Gold and Tyler Ravelson who, we
learned was doing his last performance with The Four C Notes that evening. (To be fair, the musicians backing them up
are Kraig McCreary on guitar, Greg Baroni on bass, Josh Cooper on keyboard and
Vance Okraszewski on drums.)
They’ve got a ton of shows coming up all over the
Midwest in the months to come …
And more information can be found on their
website: https://www.thefourcnotes.com/
***********************
Last Wednesday (March 6th) we caught The Ides Of March (with special guest Cathy Richardson)
at The City Winery.
I’ve got to be careful here … at the rate that I’ve
been running Jim Peterik reviews lately, I’m bordering on challenging Shelley
Sweet-Tufano and her Peter Noone / Herman’s Hermits / Noonatics obsession for
most reviews posted for the same artist!
But the guy is just so damn good … and puts on an
amazing show each and every time … and has been kind enough to invite me to
nearly every show lately … so it’s very difficult NOT to heap a ton of praise
on these guys … because they absolutely deserve it.
Playing to a sold out crowd, The Ides Of March once
again blew us away with their incredible musicianship, impeccable vocals and
dynamic stage presence.
We joked the other day about hearing them perform “L.A.
Goodbye” for the 904th time … but it has sounded absolutely perfect
each and every time I’ve heard it … and I’m looking forward to the next 904
because I know they’ll be as equally enjoyable.
Celebrating their 55th year together (can
you believe it … all four original members still perform together on stage …
what other band out there can make THAT claim?!?!), they ran through all the
hits you could possibly want to hear, told some great stories about the various
high points of their career, slipped some of Jim Peterik’s Survivor and .38
Special songs … and even featured (for the first time EVER in a live setting),
two brand new songs from their forth-coming album, due out in late May or early
June.
For this occasion, they brought out Cathy Richardson,
who simply blew the doors off vocally with her performance.
Now I will admit that as a purist it is somewhat difficult for me to refer to her as “the lead singer of Jefferson Starship” … but the truth is, like it or not, that is EXACTLY who and what she is! The simple facts of the matter are this: Grace Slick is retired ... Marty Balin is gone ... and Mickey Thomas is off doing his own thing ... so Cathy Richardson is now the de facto lead singer of the group. But let me tell you, the way she sang her heart out Wednesday Night makes me want to catch the current version of Jefferson Starship next time they come to town ... she was outstanding! (Cathy has participated with Forgotten Hits a few times over the years and has always had a very powerful voice … but her performance at The City Winery the other night was nothing short of exceptional. An enthusiastic round of applause (and standing ovation) followed it … mid-set … the girl can sing!
In addition to performing the track that she and Jim
duet on on the new CD, she also supplied high harmonies on a couple of Ides
tunes as well as handled the high-end on some of the Survivor and .38 Special
material, including a rousing performance on “Rockin” Into The Night,” another
crowd favorite.
Naturally “Vehicle” and “Eye Of The Tiger” closed the
show, which featured an exciting sequence where Jim came out into the audience to greet
many of the fans, all the while still playing the lead guitar solo on “Eye Of
The Tiger,” shaking hands and planting kisses and even climbing up on a chair
to tower over the other audience members in that section. It was amazing.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again … and, most
likely, again and again and again … you HAVE to get out and see this band. It’ll change your life!
Upcoming shows include …
·
DIDJAKNOW?:
The new Ides CD, "Play On," will feature guest performances by the likes of Cathy
Richardson, Mark Farner, formerly of Grand Funk Railroad, David Pack, formerly
of Ambrosia and Bo Bice (who had a huge hit with his remake of “Vehicle” after
he performed it on American Idol … and now is the lead singer for Blood, Sweat
and Tears … the band that Jim Peterik first presented this song to … and …
thankfully … they never bothered to listen to, thus allowing The Ides Of March
to carve out their own little piece of rock and roll history!) It is expected to drop on June 2nd ... and preorders will be offered prior to that by way of The Ides Of March website. (In addition to the usual CD and download options, there's talk of a double vinyl LP, which would also feature a few vintage bonus tracks along with the new 14 tracks recorded for their 55th Anniversary.) Although I don’t see
any ordering information on The Ides website yet, please check back as it is expected to be posted shortly. https://theidesofmarch.com/
GIVING CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE:
All Ides Of March / City Winery Photos taken by Kristie Schram and used by permission ... Frannie took the Four C-Notes photos shown above and I snapped the ones of Dinosaur Exhibit down below
GIVING CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE:
All Ides Of March / City Winery Photos taken by Kristie Schram and used by permission ... Frannie took the Four C-Notes photos shown above and I snapped the ones of Dinosaur Exhibit down below
***********************
Our good friend Quent Lang has been trying to get me to
come out and see his new band, Dinosaur Exhibit, for over a year now and, until
last Friday Night, I’ve been unable to do so.
I have heard, however, some extremely good things about
them so when I finally had the chance to go, I had some pretty high
expectations.
The band is comprised of musicians who have been active
on the Chicago music scene for decades.
Members of The Flock, The Mauds and Aura make up the core of this
seven-piece band, featuring Jerry Smith (bass), Mike Flynn (lead guitar), special
guest Jerry Goodman (violin), Pete Flynn (drums), Quent Lang (sax and flute),
George Barr (horns), Rick Levey (keyboards) and Ben Cothan (lead vocals).
The landscape of music was changing in the late ‘60’s
and one of the first bands to make that transition at the time was The
Flock. Adding Jerry Goodman on violin,
the band (which also featured Jerry Smith at the time) performed at The Kinetic
Playground exactly fifty years ago to the date of their concert at Hey Nonny in
Arlington Heights. (My first time there
… and a very nice venue!)
Also part of the Kinetic Playground line-up that night
were Ritchie Havens and John Mayall.
When Mayall returned to England after the show, he was asked by the
British Press “So what’s new in America?
What are they listening to over there?”
And Mayall told them about this incredible band he had just played with
that had a violin player! Soon The Flock
were on their way to becoming international rock stars … and they went on to
tour all over the world, both opening for and headlining with major artists
like Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane, Pink Floyd, The Who,
Fleetwood Mac, Santana and many, many more.
(We did a
special Five Part Flock Spotlight Series in Forgotten Hits several years ago …
this link will take you to all of it (albeit not in sequential order … but it’s
all there and relatively easy to figure out.)
It also features an exclusive interview with Flock founder Fred
Glickstein, who has remained a friend ever since. (By the way, this serves as another great
example of what the website search engine can turn up for you!) https://forgottenhits60s.blogspot.com/search?q=fred+glickstein
The Mauds were one of the premier “rock ‘n’ soul” bands
in Chicago for years. Led by the late
Jimy Rogers, they had a GREAT sound as well as a couple of local hits with
“Hold On” (#11, WCFL) and “Soul Drippin’” (#12, WLS). Aura, on the other hand, was “underground”
from Day One. (Keep in mind that this
was an era when groups like Vanilla Fudge and Deep Purple were reinterpreting
pop songs and turning them into rock anthems … “You Keep Me Hanging On” by The
Supremes, “Kentucky Woman” by Neil Diamond” and “Hush” by Billy Joe Royal never
sounded the same again! Even the
aforementioned Ides Of March did their own unique interpretation of The
Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby” on their “Vehicle” album.)
Now I have stated here many times that I am a lover of “pop
music” … it’s gotta have a hook or a chorus to grab you in order to remain
memorable … there’s just got to be something catchy about it to get it to stick in your head … and I knew going
in that this wasn’t going to be the case with the material Dinosaur Exhibit
would be presenting Friday Night.
But I felt that I could overlook all of that as long as
the musicianship was there to win over the audience … and, for the most part,
it seemed to work.
Assuming that most of this material would be unfamiliar
to the majority of the people there … I mean, let’s be realistic here for a
moment … The Mauds, The Flock and Aura never really had a national audience …
it’s not like their albums lit up the charts in any sort of memorable way. Even The Flock proved to be far more
successful and popular internationally than they did here in their hometown city …
so the audience appeal of such a set of music would be extremely limited to
those who were there to experience it first hand at the time. Which begs the question: How many audience members
actually owned these albums and knew the material well enough to retain those
memories all these years later? You
likely would have had to live in Chicago at the time and be holed up in your
basement with the proper mood lighting and “stimulation” to have appreciated it
at all during the era in which it was created.
(Now in all fairness, The Flock DID have two Top 100 Albums for Columbia
Records in 1969 and 1970 … “The Flock” peaked at #48 and “Dinosaur Swamps” at
#96 on The Billboard Top 200 Albums Chart … but I don’t know that there’s a
single track among them that you’d take away and then be singing in your head a
week, much less fifty years later!)
So while I found the music interesting and well
executed, part of me for the entire two hour set kept thinking “They need to
play something that will connect with the audience … something familiar that we
can latch on to in order to break up the monotony of the long jams.”
The most obvious choice would have been, of
course, The Mauds’ hit “Soul Drippin’” … something that I felt would be
familiar to all and really help to liven up the set … but despite that being
the biggest hit achieved between all three former bands, it was left out of the
set altogether. And I believe that with
the vocalist and musicianship at hand, they could have performed a rousing
version of this hit. (In fact, to my
recollection only ONE Mauds song was featured all night … and that was the
title track of the “Soldier On” album, released shortly before Jimy’s
death.) In that SEVERAL members of
Dinosaur Exhibit would at one time or another be part of The Mauds’ line-up, I
would have expected to hear more from their catalog which, at least for me,
would have been a bit more familiar.
I was, however, vindicated and proven right (once again!) when, near
the end of the set, the band launched into “I Am The Walrus.”
The entire audience was immediately rejuvenated,
singing along and yelling out the “Whooos” in all the appropriate places. I even sent a 60-second video clip to the
wife and kiddies at home, all of whom said “That was amazing!” Now you’ve hooked your audience and created a
bond. Something else along these lines
thrown in a little earlier in the set would have gone a long way to make the
rest of the set list a bit more tolerable (and far more memorable.) Here’s hoping they’ll take this little bit of advice / constructive
criticism to heart before they play at The Arcada Theatre next month on April
19th, at which time they’ll be opening for Wishbone Ash! I feel
confident that a little consideration in this regard will make for a far more
enjoyable and memorable performance as well as a better connection with their audience.
Musically, the players are all top-notch. Each member excels at their instrument of
choice. If there’s an area that needs
some attention and improvement, it has to be the vocals … lead vocalist Ben
Cothan got very little in the way of support with any of the background
vocals. He’s got a great, gritty voice
for this type of material but, truth be told, there were times when he struggled
a little bit vocally, too. Beefing up in
this area would do a lot to enhance their overall sound and improve their
versatility. (Someone else taking the
lead for a song or two, for example, would also help to break things up a
little.) Judging by the looks that some of
the players on stage exchanged with each other, I have a feeling that they are aware that this
is an area that needs some work.
Still, I have to recommend checking them out. If you were into the heavier sounds of the
late ‘60’s and early ‘70’s when bands were starting to experiment and push the
limits creatively, you will enjoy the way this music is presented.
I am also encouraged that the band has been
working on some new material which hopefully will reflect not only their
up-to-date life experiences musically, but also explore some new sounds and
techniques that have been developed since.
I have every reason to believe that this will be the case … and look
forward to hearing more from Dinosaur Exhibit in the future. (kk)
