Hey Kent,
So I have been following your blog since around 2013 and through it I have learned about a lot of concert happenings in your neck of the woods, the Chicago area. I see a lot of concerts down here in Florida, but one show I have never seen (mainly because they do not play down here) is The Cornerstones Of Rock with The Ides Of March, The Cryan' Shames, The New Colony 6 and The Buckinghams. It is a nostalgic celebration of Chicago-area garage bands that rose to prominence in the 1960s. Yes, The Buckinghams do tour around the country and I have seen them several times in the past, mainly with The Happy Together Tour, but the other three concentrate on strictly Chicago and the Midwest.
I am a big Ides Of March fan and especially Jim Peterik (just a tremendous songwriter), so I have made it my mission to somehow make it to the Chicago area to see this event. Well, it finally happened the weekend after Thanksgiving! And an extra thrill was that it happened at the legendary Arcada Theater!
My girlfriend Alice and I spent Thanksgiving at my sister's place in Tybee Island, GA. It is an annual family reunion where around 15 of us get together each year and celebrate the holiday. The next day, we flew to Chicago from Savannah arriving in the middle of the afternoon. Two train rides and an uber later we arrived at our hotel in St. Charles, just a few blocks from the Arcada. We walked down to the Arcada around noon the next day and explored the outside of the place. We went around back to see where the bands would be unloading and possibly getting ready for a soundcheck. I have learned from past experiences that is usually a great time to meet performers. In this case, we were a little too early. We went back to the front and were peering into the diner associated with the theater when an usher named Jan opened the door and invited us in. We told her that we had just arrived from Florida to see the show that night and she offered to give us a tour of the theater. We weren't gonna turn that down!
Jan took us all around the theater to all the different rooms such as the Al Capone room, Charlie Chaplin room, the Fred and Ginger room, The Great Gatsby room, the Arcada Speakeasy. As I am sure you know, the theater was opened originally in 1926 and it is now considered a national historic landmark. It has been kept in great condition thanks to the owner Ron Onesti and his great staff. We met Mike, the lead usher, Scott another usher and then finally the great Ron Onesti came up and greeted us. The man could not have treated us nicer! We were invited to ride on The Arcada Theater float in the St. Charles Holiday Parade at 5:30 later that day and we very happily accepted!
But first we went across the street to have lunch at the Mexican restaurant you recommended (it was great) and then met Brett and Nina (two more ushers) back at the Arcada to head to the location of the float. Finally, around 5:00, it was ready and we and about 15 others climbed aboard along with Ron. Could not believe it was dark already (It gets darker an hour earlier than it does in Florida) so all the floats were lit up and began to roll. Ron was carrying two huge banner signs that he unrolled (one for each side of the float) and handed one edge to me saying we need to put the Florida people to work. So we rolled down Main Steet in the parade and I am helping to advertise his legendary theater. ALICE AND I COULD NOT HAVE HAD MORE FUN!!
But on to the show, which was everything I could have hoped for, sitting only four rows from the stage on the left side! The show started off with a very short video of Ed McMahon saying "Heeeeere's Ronnie!" and out pops Ron Onesti for a quick introduction to the show. He brought up on stage two military veterans from the audience and along with the Ides Of March we all sang the National Anthem. The Ides then played "People Get Ready" and "Aire Of Good Feeling" and then the New Colony Six came out. Before each band played, a short video was shown of the members doing a quick interview of what it was like to be still performing and being a member of the Chicago area.
The New Colony Six (with members Ronnie Rice, Ray Graffia and Bruce Mattey) played "I Confess," "Love You So Much," (both sung by Ray), "Things I'd Like To Say" (with Ronnie taking over the lead), "Roll On" (this one with a Bruce Mattey lead vocal) and finally "I Will Always Think About You" (with Ronnie back on the lead again.) The Ides Of March were doing double duty (later triple duty) as the backup band. Needless to say, they sounded great and they could not have played a better song selection.
Now it was time for The Cryan' Shames as they came on stage with original members Tom Doody and Jim Pilster. With the Ides Of March (and the Buckinghams horn section) as back-up, they performed "Mr. Unreliable," "Up On The Roof" (the old Drifters and Carole King song), "Sunshine Psalm," "It Could Be We're In Love" and, to close out their portion of the show, their most famous hit, "Sugar And Spice." The sound was incredible and if you closed your eyes, it was like you were transported back to the 1960's.
Now it was time for The Ides Of March and Jim Peterik (who, by the way, no longer has the purple hair!) They remained on stage while a short video played with the members reminiscing about the band still playing after all these years and then burst into their first song, "Roller Coaster." The band still has all four original members, Jim Peterik on vocals and guitar, Larry Millas on guitar, Bob Bergland on bass and Mike Borch on drums. Scott May was on keyboards plus the three-man horn section was present. Not sure if it was the Ides horn section or The Buckinghams (I heard both ways), but they really added to the songs. Peterik then did a nice intro to their first-ever hit song, " You Wouldn't Listen." Wow, hard to believe this song came out in 1966 and now 57 years later the same four guys that recorded this song were here on stage playing it. "L.A. Goodbye" was next and then it was time for their huge hit, "Vehicle." Jim Peterik outdid himself on this song with a great vocal and guitar solo with the horns blazing along. Time for intermission after what I considered a way too short setlist, but a great well-played set of songs. Oh well, what are you gonna do …
After a short intermission, it was time for The Buckinghams. They walked out on stage while a short video of original members Carl Giammarese and Nick Fortuna showed them reminiscing. As the video ended, the band broke out into one of their biggest hits, "Don't You Care." The Buckinghams had their own band playing behind them, consisting of long-time members Dave Zane on guitar and keyboardist Bruce Soboroff. On drums was Tom Scheckel, who had just rejoined the band this past year after touring with Paul Revere and The Raiders for many years. Giammarese was on the vocals and Fortuna handled the bass quitar. We got a much longer show with The Buckinghams, as they played ten songs and, of course, all of their hits like "Hey Baby (They're Playing Our Song)," "Mercy Mercy Mercy,' "Susan," and ending the show with their biggest hit, "Kind Of A Drag." Tom Scheckel put on a show by himself as he bashed away on the drums as he reminded me of the great Kenny Aronoff, who used to be in John Mellencamp's band. In honor of the band Chicago and because all the bands playing tonight were based in Chicago, The Buckinghams performed a two-song medley of "Does Anybody Really Know What Time Is?" and "Make Me Smile." Perhaps one of the best performances was Giammarese's vocal on the Brooklyn Bridge song "The Worst That Could Happen." After "Kind Of A Drag" was played then it was a drag because that appeared to be the end of the show.
However, all the bands then came back and played the American
Breed classic "Bend Me, Shape Me." It became a huge audience sing-a-long
with the entire audience actually standing (probably for the first time)
and clapping and singing along to the song. Great way to end the show.
But even THAT didn't really spell out as the end of the show ... the party continued in the lobby, as most of the members came out and talked to the fans, signed autographs, took some pictures and sold some merchandise. I got to speak with Jim Peterik and Bob Bergland of The Ides and Carl Giammarese, Dave Zane and Tom Scheckel of The Buckinghams. Scheckel was especially accommodating as he spoke to me about his days in the Raiders and why he was now back with The Buckinghams. I mentioned to Giammarese about how great it was that his voice is as good as ever and he replied that he didn't know he was supposed to lose it. I mentioned a few singers that had seen better days (Ian Anderson, Gerry Beckley, Paul McCartney) and he told me he would keep singing until he knew when it was time to quit or, a week from Tuesday, whichever came first. Since I had mentioned I was from Florida, he said the Buckinghams were playing a concert in Venice in February and he hoped I would be there. I replied as long as you don't quit a week from Tuesday and we both had a good laugh.
I mentioned to you in a previous email what Jim Peterik had said about your birthday (he wanted me to tell you that he is sorry that he forgot your 70th birthday and he thinks you are upset with him because apparently you have not been in contact with him since ... just passing the message along, so you need to get in touch with him!) … and I also asked him what happened to his purple hair. He ran his fingers through his hair and said he was losing too many follicles and at his age that was not good.
I just realized I forgot to mention Dirty Dan Buck. After the Cryan’ Shames played, he came on stage and played "Gloria” as a tribute to the late Jimmy Sohns of the Shadows Of Knight. Another great performance!
Well, Kent that's a wrap. Just a brief mention of how we woke up the next morning to three to four inches of snow on the ground, which was exciting to this Florida boy. Temps getting down into the teens, brrr!
We did see the Allman-Betts Family Revival show at the Arcada two days later. Another great show that ran for three and a half hours as the band played tribute to their fathers by performing nothing but Allman Brothers Band songs and we got to meet Devon Allman and Duane Betts after the show. We flew out of Chicago on Tuesday, but we will be back.
I would like to thank all the staff at the Arcada who took care of us and especially Ron Onesti, who was a great host. Alice and I had the time of our lives! The only disappointment was not getting to meet with you, Kent! I have included some photos taken by Alice.
Rich Turner
Largo, FL
Sounds like you guys had a GREAT time … ALL of these performers are the best … and you won’t find a better host anywhere than Ron Onesti … just a great guy who loves this music as much as we do.
I feel so bad that we couldn’t be there … we had every intention
of meeting up with you guys (maybe even for that great Mexican dinner!) but I’ve been
sidelined for over a month now with whatever the heck this throat infection and
hacking cough is … and I couldn’t risk being near anybody, especially the
performers who, by the way, ALWAYS put on as good a show as what you witnessed
Thanksgiving Weekend. (So no, Jim ... not at all upset ... just seriously under the weather!)
Hope you do come back and we can see it together. (They’ve already got another one booked for February, this time at The Genesee Theatre, another beautiful place to see a show in this area.)
Special thanks to Rich's girlfried Alice, who sent us all of these great shots posted above … nice job … SO glad that you guys finally got a chance to see this show. (We have introduced folks all over the country … all over the WORLD, for that matter … to the great music that came out of Chicago in the ‘60’s … music they may not have heard in their neck of the woods … and all seem to agree that ALL of these songs should have been much bigger hits. (Looks like the guys finally mixed up the set list a little bit, too, which is always interesting!)
Until we meet again … or at least for the very first time, thanks, Rich … glad you enjoyed the show … and the whole experience. (Damn … riding on the float … I’VE never even done that!!! Lol) kk
Ray Graffia, Jr. ALSO sent me a few photos from the Thanksgiving Weekend gig at The Arcada ...
And, a quick plug for the Genesee show ...
