Ravinia salutes essential workers with free concert
July 3 event to feature Shemekia Copeland and Ides of March
Essential, front-line, health care workers and first responders will be honored with a free, invitation-only concert at 6:30 p.m. July 3 at Ravinia Festival.
Chicago Festival will feature the Ides of March with Jim Peterik and award-winning vocalist Shemekia Copeland. Ravinia’s neighborhood and education community will also be invited to this event.
The Ides of March began in Berwyn in 1964 and amazingly four of the original band members — Larry Millas (guitar, bass, and vocals), Bob Bergland (bass, saxophone, and vocals), Mike Borch (drums and vocals), and Jim Peterik — have been with the group since the beginning.
Peterik, who plays guitar and is the lead singer, is the group’s songwriter, whose songs have earned 18 top-10 Billboard spots and sold over 30 million copies. He earned a Grammy, a People’s Choice award, and an Oscar nomination.
Peterik cowrote such hits as, “The Search is Over,” “High On You,” “I Can’t Hold Back,” and “Eye of the Tiger.”
“Ravinia is like a dream come true,” Peterik said. “We’ve always aspired to play Ravinia and finally we’ve got the chance. It’s such an iconic venue. I’ve been there many times with the band, with my wife, with my family to see other acts. And now we’re actually going to be on the main stage.”
“We’ve been together for 57 years,” Peterik noted. There was a 17-year gap during which he performed with other bands although “even during that period we played together every year but not to the degree we did before and after,” Peterik said.
He believes that the reason for that loyalty is that “we have such respect for each other. Larry Millas is the leader of the band. He and Bob Bergland recruited me when I was 14 years old. Then we got Mike Borch. We became like a family. We all went to Morton West High School together and played in the marching band together. It’s still a family.”
Band members have been added through the years to complete the Ides of March sound. These include Steve Eisen (woodwinds and percussion), Tim Bales (trumpet and fluegelhorn), Henry Salgado (trombone), and Scott May (keyboards and vocals).
Peterik admitted that the Ides of March’s sound has changed through the years. “We started as a Beatles/Hollies-influenced band,” he said. “Our first single called, ‘You Wouldn’t Listen,’ sounded like the Hollies meet Curtis Mayfield.
“Then we started adding brass and we became a brass band. When you’re 14, 15 years old and you start a band, you’re learning as you go. You don’t immediately have your sound together. It kind of evolves.”
The concert will include performances of Peterik’s hits through the years. “We do an amazing version of ‘Eye of the Tiger’ with the brass,” he said. They’ll also be doing “a lot of hits that the people will recognize but then we throw in some brand-new ones.”
Those will be from the band’s new album, “Play On,” composed of original Peterik numbers.
Highly acclaimed vocalist Shemekia Copeland was unavailable for an interview but has said she is looking forward to her performance at Ravinia. Her latest album, “Uncivil War” showcases Copeland’s powerhouse voice as well as her commitment to social issues.
It addresses such topics as gun violence in “Apple Pie and a .45,” civil rights in “Walk Until I Ride,” and lost friends in “Dirty Saint.” It also includes “Love Song” by the artist’s father, blues legend Johnny Clyde Copeland.
Even though Chicago Festival
is an invitation-only event, Ravinia’s packed schedule features concerts to entertain every musical taste.
There are numerous performances by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and a concert from the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis on July 25.
The schedule also features such popular entertainers as
Michael Feinstein and Betty Buckley (Aug. 1); children’s performer Laurie Berkner (Aug. 7); Judy Collins and Madeleine Peyroux (Aug.10); Gladys Knight (Aug. 18); Lady A (Sept. 3); John Legend (Sept. 5 and 6); and the Joffrey Ballet (Sept. 17); among many others.