You don’t get to be 60 years old without doing something right. Just ask the Ides of March.
The band, which formed in Berwyn in 1964, is celebrating its 60th year together. To honor the occasion, the Ides of March are performing with a 26-piece orchestra at 7:30 p.m. March 15 (naturally) at the Norris Cultural Arts Center in St. Charles.
The Ides of March: With Strings Attached will be a night of songs, stories and nostalgia, said singer/guitar player and Grammy Award-winning songwriter Jim Peterik. The concert will be conducted by former Ides of March trombonist Dave Stahlberg with orchestrations by their longtime friend and collaborator, Ed Vodicka.
“This is going to be a great show,” Peterik said.
In addition to Peterik, The Ides of March are Mike Borch on drums, Bob Bergland on bass and Larry Millas on guitar.
“New” member includes Scott May (33 years) on keyboards.
The Ides of March originally formed as The Shon-Dells, but Berglund suggested the name change when they were all reading Shakespeare in high school.
The band performed a string show outdoors last year. It was a success they wanted to repeat indoors to honor the 60th anniversary, he said.
“Here we are at the Norris Cultural Arts Center, literally acoustically perfect,” he said. “We’re all set up on stage – we decided not to go with risers. Half the stage is orchestra and the other half will be The Ides of March and the Ides of March brass.”
Audiences will hear hits like “L.A. Goodbye” and “Vehicle,” he said, as well as songs Peterik wrote when he was with the bands .38 Special and Survivor, like “Eye of the Tiger,” “The Search is Over,” “I Can’t Hold Back” and “Hold on Loosely.”
“The orchestra will take a break and the original four members of the Ides of March takes center stage and we do tight harmonies, just intimate and unplugged,” he said.
It’s a show long-time fans will appreciate – and their children and their grandchildren, he said laughing.
“Hopefully, the music is timeless. So far, it’s lasted the test of time since we got together in 1964,” he said.
The Ides of March has outlived many, if not most, bands of its generation. What’s the secret to the band’s longevity?
“You know what? We were best friends in third grade, all of us. Well, we met Mike in seventh grade. He was the new kid,” Peterik said. “Really, mutual respect, mutual friendship. And we all have our own jobs. We’re like a mini-city.”
Peterik does the songwriting, Millas engineers the sessions, Borch keeps the schedule and Berglund manages the money (and Peterik personally).
“We all have our own department and yet we all get together and have these wonderful get-togethers and talk about the old times and talk about the new times,” he said. “It never gets old.”
And you just know that band has some good stories after 60 years.
“We have some really good ones. I’m not going to give it all away, but we’ll tell the Led Zeppelin party story,” he said. “I’m going to bait you with that one. And many other stories of being on the road with Janis Joplin and … so many others. The greats and the near-greats, we were with them.”
The Ides of March have a lot of shows coming up this year, he said.
“There’s really no rest because we don’t want to rest,” he said. “Like Neil Young says, ‘Rust never sleeps.’ You want to keep going. We’re a well-oiled machine and we want to stay that way so we have many shows lined up for ’24. We’re really looking forward to that.”
He and “The Boys from Berwyn” are looking forward to sharing the stage with an orchestra and bringing the classic songs to St. Charles.
“The Ides of March are all about music but we’re also about having a great time, telling stories, sharing the camaraderie that we’ve had for 60 years,” he said. “There’s a thousand stories and we share some of those between songs. I think it gives everything a little more context, knowing the stories behind the songs.
“It’s the 60th anniversary. It’s very special for us.”
The Ides of March: With Strings Attached
When: 7:30 p.m. March 15
Where: Norris Cultural Arts Center, 1040 Dunham Road, St. Charles
Tickets: $39-$99
Information: 630-584-7200; norrisculturalarts.com
Annie Alleman is a freelance reporter for the Beacon-News.
