Ides of March bring Christmas cheer to Hobart, Des Plaines
Jim Peterik will be gifting new music during the Ides of March Christmas concerts this season.
“We’re going to be joined by one of my favorite singers, Toby Hitchcock. Toby and I sing together in a band called Pride of Lions,” he said. “We’ll be doing ‘Oh, Holy Night’ and a brand new song that I’ve written for Christmas. That will be the first time people will really be hearing it. So we’re going to premiere that and I’m going to let that one be a surprise.”
The song’s debut will take place during the Ides of March Christmas Show, which the band will perform at 7 p.m. Dec. 9 at the Hobart Art Theater in Hobart, Indiana, and at 3 p.m. Dec. 11 at the Des Plaines Theatre in Des Plaines, Illinois.
“We haven’t done this Christmas show in Indiana ever,” Peterik said. “It’s really going to be terrific.”
The show, he said, is unique and puts everybody in the holiday spirit.
“The Christmas show is really the Ides of March’s favorite show of the year because Christmas is so awesome,” Peterik said. “We have such a great repertoire of Christmas songs. We do traditional songs like ‘Little Drummer Boy,’ ‘Oh, Holy Night,’ and ‘Do
You Hear What I Hear?’
“But we also put in the Ides of March’s original Christmas songs like ‘A Distant Trumpet,’ ‘The Meaning of Christmas’ and ‘There is a Boy.’ And ‘Sharing Christmas,’” Peterik said. “It rocks, but it’s also very beautiful. And we have some great ballads to put everybody in that romantic Christmas mood.”
The Ides of March, known for such hits as “Vehicle,” “L.A. Goodbye” and “You Wouldn’t Listen,” has been making music together for 58 years.
“We started in 1964. The original four guys — myself, Larry Millas, Mike Borch and Bob Bergland. We’re still together,” Peterik said. “Scott May has been with us. He’s the new kid in the group. He’s been with us for 33 years. And we have one of the best horn sections we’ve ever had. It’s just a rockin’ show.”
The musicians grew up together in Berwyn, Illinois, forming their band when Peterik was just 14.
“I went to grade school with most of the guys, since third grade. Bob Bergland and I were in the Cub Scouts together in third grade. And Mike Borch and Larry Millas were in high school band with us. And all of a sudden we just decided ‘this has been fun, let’s put together a rock band,’ ” Peterik said.
“And at first we called ourselves the Shon-Dels. And then we had to change the name when Tommy James and the Shondells came along.
“And Bob Bergland said
‘We’re reading “Julius Caesar.” How about “Beware the Ides of March?’” and in 1966 we became The Ides of March and had our first hit record, ‘You Wouldn’t Listen,’” he said. “And that led to 1970 with our massive hit, “Vehicle.’”
Over the years the band’s hit has been used in countless commercials, everything from GM to Levi’s, Peterik said.
“It just keeps going,” he said. “It has that signature horn riff that once you hear it, you can’t get it out of your head.”
Currently the band is working on new songs for a new Ides of March album, with recording expected to begin in the spring. The album is slated to be released by the end of 2023, Peterik said.
“We’re really excited to be getting back into the studio and doing what we do best and make original music with brass and harmony,” he said. “Those are the two main things in the Ides of March, brass and harmony. And good spirits. We don’t dwell on negativity.”
The positive, uplifting messages of the band’s music are enjoyed by fans of all ages, Peterik said.
“Of course we have the old guard, which is our age people, between the ages of 60 and 77,” said Peterik, who turned 72 in November. “We’re real proud of still being out there rockin’ and being as energetic as always. We just keep it going, and it keeps us young.”
Audience members often bring
their children and grandkids to the shows, with the youngest fans writing Peterik, formerly of Survivor, about the Grammy Award-winning song he co-wrote with Frankie Sullivan.
“The grandchildren all love ‘Eye of the Tiger.’ I get letters all the time from young fans, 5 years old and 10 years old that say ‘Jimmy Peterik, my favorite song is “Eye of the Tiger,” can I have your autograph?’” he said. “And I get this all the time.”
At the Ides of March Christmas shows, the first set is all about Christmas music. The second set includes a variety of songs Peterik has “had the pleasure of writing with and performing with others.”
That includes songs he wrote with .38 Special, like “Hold on Loosely,” and “Caught Up in You;” “Heavy Metal,” which he wrote with Sammy Hager; and the theme from “Rocky III.”
“Every Ides of March show, that’s one our finale songs,” Peterik said. “Christmas or no Christmas, we always do ‘Eye of the Tiger.’”