Chicago in the 1960s and ’70s was a great time for a music lover. Several bands got their start at that time and continue to make music decades later.
Notably, five bands that will appear in concert at the Genesee Theatre in Waukegan. The Cornerstones of Rock, featuring The Ides of March, New Colony Six, The Buckinghams, the Cryan Shames and the Shadows of Knight, will perform at 7 p.m. Oct. 1. Jimy Sohns of the Shadows of Knight died earlier this year and Dan Buck of One of the Boyzz will fill in.
Beginning around 1965, Chicago was home to a rock ‘n’ roll revolution, with these five groups in the thick of it. The Cornerstones of Rock show features the core members of these groups performing the songs that put them — and the Windy City — on the map.
Cornerstones of Rock is the brainchild of Jim Peterik, the Grammy Award-winning and Oscar-nominated songwriter, performer, producer and member of the Ides of March. The Ides of March — including original members Peterik, Larry Millas and Bob Bergland — serve as the Cornerstone’s house band.
“We’re really excited about it,” Peterik said. “It’s the lineup we love — all of these Chicago bands that made an impact in the late ’60s. It’s amazing — so many of the original members in all these bands.
“The New Colony Six — one of my favorite bands when I was a teenager. The Cryan Shames — we’re so lucky to have them. Tom Doody, the great lead singer, he flies in from the West Coast to do these shows. He’s still got the voice; he’s still got that Irish tenor. They do the songs that made them famous in the Midwest (like) ‘Sugar and Spice’ and ‘I Wanna Meet You.’ Just an incredible band.”
The Buckinghams, with Carl Giammarese and Nick Fortuna, are known for hits like “Don’t You Care” and “Kind of a Drag.” The Ides of March don’t back up The Buckinghams, Peterik said.
“Then we all come back at the end of The Buckinghams set and we do a tribute to Gary Loizzo, he was the singer of The American Breed, and he passed away a few years ago,” Peterik said. “He sang the song, ‘Bend Me Shape Me.’ We close with that and it brings the house down every time.”
He’s excited to have Dan Buck standing in for Jimy Sohns.
“He’s the perfect guy to do the tribute to Jimy Sohns because they both share that rock ‘n’ roll, wild man kind of stage presence. We’re thrilled he was able to do the show at the Genesee. That is going to be a great moment.”
The groups came up at the same time and inevitably ran into each other, he said.
“The Chicago scene was really unique. I liken it to Liverpool in England because everybody knew each other. Everybody loved each other. We had a little bit of friendly rivalry … but it was all in good fun,” he said. “I remember those days very fondly — the Ides of March at … Navy Pier before Navy Pier was cool. We would open for the Cryan Shames or the Shadows. It was one big happy family.”
The first Cornerstones of Rock show was a fundraiser that aired on PBS.
“It was supposed to be a one-off show but it was so popular that … we’ve been doing it every year, maybe three shows a year. It’s special. It’s a real thrill to get together with our old friends.”
The hardest part about a Cornerstones of Rock show is keeping it under five hours, he joked.
“That means we each do three songs, maybe four,” he said. “We try to pick the ones that are most familiar but also a few deep cuts. We try to change it up a little but we have to do the big songs. We have to do ‘I Confess’ by the New Colony Six and ‘Sugar and Spice’ by the Cryan Shames. And the Ides of March — if we didn’t do ‘Vehicle,’ they would storm the stage. And the Shadows of Knight — I’m sure Dan will own ‘Gloria’ and ‘Oh Yeah.'”
The Ides of March are working on a new album and doing more shows this year, he said.
“We always are moving forward. We’re always writing new songs. That’s one thing I’m really proud of with this band,” he said. “We don’t sit still. We play the oldies, we play the hits, but we’re always writing new material.”
What people should expect from the show are wonderful memories, he said.
“We take this very seriously. We don’t just get up there and phone it in,” he said. “We pretend that we’re 21 again and we put that spirit into it. I think that enlivens the whole experience. People come to want to feel like teenagers again and we want to give them that experience so we put our all into it. I think that’s what you should expect, that feeling of déja vu.”
Cornerstones of Rock
When: 7 p.m. Oct. 1
Where: Genesee Theatre, 203 N. Genesee St., Waukegan
Tickets: $35-$85
Information: 847-263-6300; geneseetheatre.com
Annie Alleman is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.
