The Ides Of March took another victory lap around The City Winery last Wednesday Night (March 4th), playing to a full house of extremely satisfied fans (including several Forgotten Hits ticket winners!)
Every time these guys play The City Winery, they pack ‘em in … and Wednesday was no exception.
Special Guest Guitarist Anthony Gomes was quite amazing and proved to be everything the hype said he was. He and Ides leader Jim Peterik are currently working on an album together and Jim promises that this one is going to make folks stand up and pay attention.
Here's a list of upcoming gigs for both artists:
THE IDES OF MARCH: https://theidesofmarch.com/shows/
March 20th - The Tangier Event Center - Akron, OH
March 21st - Ram's Head On Stage - Annapolis, MD
March 22nd - The Hamilton - Washington, DC
March 24th - Jergel's Rhythm Grille - Warrendale, PA
March 29th - Illinois Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Museum - Joliet, IL
April 18th - St. Joseph High School - Westchester, IL
April 23rd - Northern Lights Theatre at Potawatomi Casino - Milwaukee, WI
May 2nd – The Arcada Theatre – St. Charles, IL (Cornerstones Of Rock with The Buckinghams, The Cryan’ Shames, The New Colony Six and The Shadows Of Knight)
May 9th - Acorn Theater - Three Oaks, MI (with Mindi Abair and the Boneshakers)
May 22nd - The Devon Lakeshore Amphitheatre - Three Oaks, MI
June 25th - Rock'n Wheels - Addison on the Village Green - Addison, IL (with Mark Farner)
July 2nd - Frontier Days - Recreation Park - Arlington Heights, IL (with Mark Farner and Bo Bice)
August 13th – Leach Auditorium / Oshkosh Waterfest – Oshkosh, WI (Cornerstones Of Rock)
November 28th – The Arcada Theatre – St. Charles, IL (Cornerstones Of Rock)
ANTHONY GOMES: https://www.anthonygomes.com/tour
March 20th - Mojo's BoneYard Sports Bar & Grille - Evansville, IN
March 21st - C2G Music Hall - Fort Wayne, IN
March 27th - VZD's Restaurant & Bar - Oklahoma City, OK
March 28th - The Red Shed - Hutchinson, KS
April 3rd - The Washington - Burlington
April 4th - The Castle Theatre - Bloomington, IL
April 24th - The Funky Biscuit - Boca Raton, FL
April 25th - The Attic at Rock Brothers Brewing - Tampa, FL
April 26th - Cafe Eleven - St. Augustine, FL
May 1st - The Met - Pawtucket, RI
May 2nd - 9 Wallis - Beverly, MA
May 15th - The Token Lounge - Westland, MI
May 29th – Shuffle - Springfield, MO
August 2nd - Mount Baker Rhythm & Blues Festival - Deming, WA
August 14th - Summertime Blues Festival - Nanaimo, Canada
The two first met when Peterik was purchasing a guitar at a Guitar Center in the suburbs where Gomes just happened to be working as a sales clerk. Jim says that after Anthony climbed the ladder to bring the guitar in question down from the wall display, rather than sample it himself, he asked Gomes to play it … and was blown away. Anthony then slipped a very impressed Jim Peterik a tape of his work, featuring both his incredible playing and singing, and the two have been working together ever since. Gomes is a guitar shredder … and quite amazing to watch … and the fact that they’re writing this new album together promises some exploration into new areas and tones for both artists. Looking forward to hearing the final results. (kk)
Yes! How about Anthony!
We are writing an awesome album together. I feel it will be his breakthrough.
Thanks for all your efforts to ensure the Winery was the success it became.
Warm regards ...
Jimbo and all the Ides of March
And on Friday Night (March 6th), we were treated to the double bill of The Buckinghams and America at The Genesee Theatre in Waukegan … another full house, completely sold out show. (Special thanks to Carl Giammarese for getting us in at the last minute!)
And what a show it was!
The Buckinghams stepped outside their normal comfort zone to deliver an all-acoustic set, helping to set the stage for the soft-rock sounds of America.
Doing a completely unplugged set of their hits, Carl, guitarist Dave Zane and bassist Nick Fortuna brought a whole new dimension to the music we all know and love. It also provided a much more intimate setting for some storytelling along the way … and proved to be a VERY entertaining set of their stripped-down hits. (Carl and Nick both were sporting battle scars from the last couple of weeks … Carl had a large bruise on his forehead from getting hit in the face with a door … and poor Nick was hobbling around on crutches after breaking his foot! … but vowed that there was NO way he was going to miss this show. SO glad that these Buckinghams veterans were able to take the stage.)
This special setting also gave them a chance to do a few songs they don’t typically do during the course of a Buckinghams concert. (Keep in mind that when they’re in full band mode, they’re an eight piece operation with horns … and so many of their hits were horn-driven back in the day. In fact, The Bucks were the precursor to the whole horn-rock era.)
With a nod to The British Invasion that first inspired them, they performed “You Make Me Feel So Good,” a Zombies track that wound up on the B-Side of their #1 Hit “Kind Of A Drag,” a stirring version of The Beatles’ “This Boy” (with guitarist Dave Zane taking over the lead vocal for the middle eight), and Carl performed a completely solo version of The Fab’s “I’m A Loser,” a song he first recorded with Dennis Tufano after The Buckinghams split up in the early ‘70’s, as Tufano and Giammarese.
All the hits were there: “Don’t You Care,” “Hey, Baby, They’re Playing Our Song,” “Mercy Mercy Mercy” and (of course) their #1 Hit, “Kind Of A Drag.”
But the BIGGEST surprise for me (and, in my opinion, the highlight of their set) was their BEAUTIFUL rendition of “Susan” (which just also happens to be my all-time favorite Buckinghams songs.)
I’ll admit to having some pre-show reservations as to how they were going to pull of such an interesting and inventive track with just three guys playing acoustic instruments … I was sure it was going to fall short of the song’s heavy vocal layers, psychedelic tendencies.
Turns out I needn’t have worried … they didn’t even TRY to replicate the original sound. Instead, the guys stripped it down to an absolutely beautiful acoustic arrangement with perfectly placed background vocals over a near-whisper lead vocal by Carl. They absolutely re-invented the tune … and it was magic.
As for America, we’ve seen them now more times than I can count. These guys have had such an outstanding, long-lasting career, with nearly two dozen chart hits and so many well-known album tracks, they are never at a loss for material.
This time around (celebrating the band’s 50th anniversary), they dug a little deeper in their catalog and, in addition to performing all of the obvious and expected hits, they also featured some album tracks from throughout their career (with special emphasis on the band’s first two albums.)
Along the way, we were treated to another amazing set. Their band REALLY rocks when it needs to. (America seems to be typecast as a soft-rock, yacht-rock ‘70’s band … but there is SO much more to these guys than that … and they proved it Friday Night with a set that covered the extremes of the beautiful “Daisy Jane” right on thru a positively jamming version of “Sandman” from their first album. Both tracks induced well-deserved standing ovations.)
Dewey Bunnell and Gerry Beckley were in outstanding voice … and their back-up band truly kicked ass. Steve Fekete was nothing short of amazing on lead guitar and keyboards and he adds a dimension of rock ability that takes the whole band to a new performance level. Ditto for bassist Rich Campbell and drummer Ryland Steen, both exceptional musicians who leave no missing gaps in their live presentation. It was, by far, the tightest and most exciting back-up I've ever seen them with ... you need to hang on to these guys!!!
America presented a very strong set of material and even gave a nod to The Buckinghams for being one of the bands from the ‘60’s that inspired them to pursue a career in music. Their stories of the early days when the band was just first starting out and developing a following were quite entertaining … especially about the time they opened for Pink Floyd with just their three acoustic guitars. (Can you even imagine? Hey, we saw them open for Jethro Tull at one of The Drive’s Birthday Party concerts a few years back … who would have ever thought to put THESE two acts together?!?!) Honestly, even the pairing of The Buckinghams and America wasn’t your normal expectation … but it worked … BOTH bands put on noteworthy shows Friday Night. (It wouldn’t surprise me at all to see more pairings down the road for these two artists, each of whom would not only draw their own audience to the show, but would also win over NEW fans in the process.)
In addition, they did a nice tribute to Sir George Martin, who produced SEVEN of America’s albums during the ‘70’s … and then went on to perform a killer version of “Eleanor Rigby,” first made famous by ANOTHER band that Martin produced, back in the ‘60’s. (Wow!!! Three Beatles covers in one night … proof again that this music will never die.) In fact, the same thought occurred to me when they performed their own version of “California Dreamin’,” a minor hit for the band in 1979 that had the whole audience singing along. Think about it ... is there a soul anywhere in the world that doesn’t know the words to this song … and can even fill in all the background vocals and harmonies without even being prompted to do so?!?! This song will NEVER disappear from the musical landscape!
Hits featured along the way included “I Need You,” “Ventura Highway,” “Don’t Cross The River,” “Only In Your Heart,” “Tin Man” (they opened the show with this one), “Lonely People,” “Daisy Jane,” “Woman Tonight,” “You Can Do Magic,” “The Border” and their #1 Hit “Sister Golden Hair,” which closed the show. The Buckinghams came back out on stage to help them perform their encore performance of “A Horse With No Name” … and then it was over. (The only notable hit not performed that night was "Muskrat Love" ... and my guess is that not a single audience member missed hearing it!)
I mentioned at the beginning of this review that we have seen America MANY times over the years … for me, even going back to the early ‘70’s when they first burst on the scene … and I have to say that this was definitely one of the best shows I’ve ever seen them do. (kk)
And, thanks to Ron Onesti, we’ll be taking a bunch of Forgotten Hits Readers to see The Bay City Rollers at The Arcada Theatre this Friday Night (March 13th).
We ran this Bay City Rollers Hit List for all the locals last week:
THE BAY CITY ROLLERS HIT LIST:
1971 - Keep On Dancing (US - xx / UK - #9)
1974 - Remember (Sha-La-La) US - xx / UK - #6
1974 - Shang-A-Lang (US - xx / UK - #2)
1974 - Summer Love Sensation (US - xx / UK - #3)
1974 - All Of Me Loves All Of You (US - xx / UK - #4)
1975 - Bye Bye Baby (US - #104 / UK - #1)
1975 - Give A Little Love (US - xx / UK - #1)
1976 - Saturday Night (US - #1 / UK - xx) also #1 here in Chicago
1976 - Love Me Like I Love You (US - xx / UK - #4)
1976 - Money Honey (US - #7 / UK - #3 / Chi - #7)
1976 - Rock And Roll Love Letter (US - #28 / UK - xx / Chi - #4)
1976 - I Only Want To Be With You (US - #8 / UK - xx / Chi - #2)
1977 - Yesterday's Hero (US - #49 / UK - xx / Chi - #20)
1977 - It's A Game (US - xx / UK - #14 / Chi - xx)
1977 - Dedication (US - #60 / UK - xx / Chi - #38)
1977 - You Made Me Believe In Magic (US - #7 / UK - #34 / Chi - #2)
1978 - The Way I Feel Tonight (US - #19 / UK - xx / Chi - #19)
As a Roller fan, I sent your free ticket offer to my 1980's roommate and my girlfriend and younger brother, letting them know that the BCR's are coming to Illinois on my girlfriend's birthday. Got some fun responses. Too bad we can't go!
I wanna be "Yesterday's Hero!" "Rock & Roll Love Letter" was always a fave since Lujack played the hell out of it mornings before I would head off to work. What a powerful track to wake up with.
Clark Besch
This is going to be a fun show … I wish ALL of you could join us!
I think I mentioned earlier that our grand-daughter will be spending next week with us on her spring break from school … actually CHOSE to come to Chicago (from the Houston area) to spend this time with us. (And she’ll turn fifteen while she’s here … so taking her to her very first rock concert for her birthday … and hopefully meeting and taking a photo with the band … should make for a pretty memorable 15th!)
We’ll report back on the show next weekend … and hopefully some of the lucky winners will chime in, too. (kk)
And, The Arcada Theatre has finally announced the Freddy Cannon show (with special guest star Son Of Svengoolie) coming up on Sunday, September 13th. (We told you about this one a couple of weeks as an exclusive Forgotten Hits Sneak Peek!) Also coming back … Orchestra … the spot-on tribute to the music of Jeff Lynne and Electric Light Orchestra, featuring former band members of ELO. (They’ll be back on Friday, October 23rd.) Tickets are available now for both shows. Hope to see some of you out there! (kk)
THIS AND THAT:
As mentioned here the other day, the CoronaVirus is impacting all walks of life right now … we’ve heard about flight bans requiring you to prove a “necessity for travel,” even within the United States.
Shows are being cancelled … conventions are being cancelled … the effects have been quite dramatic to say the least. Experts are saying that even if an antibiotic were to be developed to combat this virus, it could take 12-18 months just to get it out there … how much more damage can potentially be done in the meantime as the virus spreads? Suffice to say, we’re all concerned. Even the idea of just putting things into a holding pattern for the next 60 days to re-evaluate doesn’t feel very promising right now.
We received this notice from Micky Dolenz last Thursday …
MONKEE MICKY DOLENZ POSTPONES TWO CHARITY EVENTS AT IRIDIUM
Monkee-Micky Dolenz has postponed two charity events originally scheduled for late-March at New York City’s Iridium, billed as “Sing Along With Micky Dolenz of The Monkees.”
“It’s not a cancellation … just a postponement. We will re-schedule in the early summer, but with health concerns on the rise, to err on the side of caution, is unquestionably the way to go for the fans.”
Dolenz-promoter Jodi Ritzen added, “We are a family and we are so appreciative of the fans. Nobody ever wants to have to postpone, but this was the best thing, putting health first. We will have an even bigger celebration in NYC to kick off summer. I personally am very appreciative of the loving messages from the fans around the world.”
The re-scheduled dates will be announced shortly.
Hi Kent –
I received the Mark Bego / Elton John book on Wednesday. Thanks again very much ... looking forward to a great read! I’m headed to Sanibel Island, FL, in a few weeks, so that will be my beach book!
I just finished reading "Solid State - The Story of Abbey Road and The End of The Beatles.” I’m VERY particular about Beatle-related books that come out, and this is a good one. I knew a lot of the “stories” already, but this one got more into the recording process and recording equipment, which I really enjoyed.
Not sure if I’ve mentioned this to you, but I’ve had the fortunate opportunity to have been acquainted to the Abbey Road studio manager through my Sony business relationships when I travelled to London several times for business in the 1990’s and early 2000’s, and have been able to visit the studios on numerous occasions, and even have tea in the famous canteen (!) Here are a couple of pix taken on my last visit 2.5 years ago.
Thanks again … and keep up the great work in keeping our music alive!
Mike Stineman
Abbey Road, Studio 2, 2017
Abbey Road - Studio 3 Control Room - 2017
I saw that Leonid video for Vehicle over the weekend – isn’t it something!
We’ve already bought our tickets to see them at the Arcada in June – can’t wait!
Dennis
Dennis
We still haven’t seen them yet … but need to … maybe we’ll see you at the show! (kk)
Hey Kent,
JEEZ! I'd love to hear this group sometime! Thanks for posting the Leonid "Vehicle" video. Wonderful band and their lead singer on this one, NAILED it!
- John LaPuzza
They are incredibly talented … and have learned this music note for note.
They’ve been posting Chicago tribute videos for years now … and they really do excel at these …
But this Ides Of March / “Vehicle” performance is something else! (Check out their take on “Beginnings,” too … amazing!) kk
And check out this “Behind The Music”-type video. (I get the sense that some of their singing is done phonetically … yet they simply nail it, capturing the overall sound.) kk
That Leonid & Friends take on "Vehicle" is just plain awesome. Jim says it is spot on … but I have to say that despite EVERYTHING being perfect ... well, almost perfect … the drummer had to do his thing … so that is the ONLY small drawback as to perfecting the tune to carbon imagery.
Speaking of "25 or 6 to 4," here's a great sounding mix my brother made this past week. You can hear the articulation in the bass intro that for some reason producer James Guercio must have cut out for some reason. Maybe he was well aware that after two early flop singles in 1969 and pushing the group so hard to Clive Davis at Columbia, he didn't want a one hit wonder and wanted the follow-up to "Make Me Smile" to be special. It was and went to #4, well above "Smile's" #9 showing. "25 or 6 to 4" would be revived 16 years later in a new version that would reach #48 AND be a B side to two later top 10 Chicago hits!
But, of course, what does "25 or 6 to 4" MEAN???? The age old question.
Clark Besch
Cool, Clark! Nice version!
Yes, the Leonid and Friends version pretty much nails Vehicle.
I agree, though, that Mike’s original One Take Phil helps define the song.
Talking to Robert Lamm, he told me he was working on material desperately for the new album, trying to find inspiration very late at night, and he looked at the clock and it was approximately 25 minutes to 4 o’clock - could have been 26 minutes to 4 - he wasn’t sure - hence 25 or 6 (26) to four.
Jim Peterik
Jim, cool story ... I never knew.
I agree again that Leonid's Vehicle is indeed perfect … minus the drum changes. ;)
Clark
Longtime FH Regular Frank B. is reporting the death of Les Cauchi, one of the original founding members of The Brooklyn Bridge. (They, of course, had the Top Three Hit “Worst That Could Happen” in early 1969.) He also sang with The Del Satins. (kk)
Longtime FH Regular Frank B. is reporting the death of Les Cauchi, one of the original founding members of The Brooklyn Bridge. (They, of course, had the Top Three Hit “Worst That Could Happen” in early 1969.) He also sang with The Del Satins. (kk)
Meanwhile, Billboard is reporting the death of Barbara Martin, an original member of The Supremes. She was 76. Mary Wilson of The Supremes confirmed the sad news.
The Supremes' official Facebook page reposted Mary Wilson's message, writing, "Our hearts go out to Barbara's family and friends. Once a Supreme, always a Supreme."
Billboard reports: The Detroit-born singer replaced Betty McGlown in 1960 when the founding quartet -- consisting of Wilson, McGlown, Diana Ross and Florence Ballard -- used to be called The Primettes. The reconstructed girl group went on to sign a record deal with Motown's Berry Gordy as The Supremes in 1961.
Martin shared vocals with Ross on the group's early single "(He's) Seventeen." She left the pop girl group in 1962, and the remaining women took off as a trio until 1967, when the group renamed itself again as Diana Ross & The Supremes and Cindy Birdsong replaced Ballard. The Supremes went through numerous trio combinations until dissolving in 1977. (kk)
Kent,
That video you posted at the bottom of today's FH instantly reminded me of a record the Smothers Brothers made way back in 1963. It was the song JENNY BROWN on Mercury (Hg) records. Just curious (but not yellow) … did the record chart in Chicago?
Larry Neal
Larry Neal
Yes it did … but only as an “Extra.” Nationally, it peaked at #82. (kk)
Peter Noone would love this!
This weekend, we were at an antique store and I just HAD to get a pic of me with this. THIS person must have loved this record as much as you or I love our fave 45s. Beat to Hell after millions of plays and they framed it and then eventually it went on sale for $5.50 at an antique store. Nice tape on the sleeve. STILL, it's a GREAT two-sided winner, IMO.
Clark Besch
