GOLDEN CELEBRATION for 50 YEARS of the IDES OF MARCH

Things started just before the turn of 2014 with our annual visit to Holy Name Cathedral. We had the pleasure, once again to help our Chaplain MSGR. DAN MAYALL out with the 6:30 Christmas Eve Mass. Our pal, the Dean of all Disc Jockeys DICK BIONDI was again with us, and it was a joyous occasion, indeed!

January and February were the “calm before the storm”, but things took off in March with a “MINI WORLD STAGE”  in Charleston S.C. for the good folks of Baker and Taylor who have been instrumental over the years distributing our CD’s and Jim’s Books. MIKE RENO from Loverboy and CATHY RICHARDSON from Jefferson Airplane were the IDES’ special guest along with World Stage Band Guitar Whiz MIKE AQUINO. The hits just kept on comin’!

Only back for a few days before we took off for the heartland and a one-nighter at the plush GRAND FALLS CASINO just outside of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. What was the date? Why, March 15th The IDES of March!

March kept on rocking with a sold-out show supporting TOMMY JAMES at the gorgeous Rialto Square Theatre in Joliet Illinois, followed by a trip downstate to Edwardsville, Illinois for a show at the smaller, but no-less-splendid Wildey Theatre.

April and May were quiet, but the end of the month saw the Ides in front of a PACKED audience at Chicago’s House Of Blues. Love those enthusiastic downtown crowds!The end of June saw us back at “The Cell”  (Cellular Field or as most Chicagoans still call it: ”Comiskey” or “Sox-Park”) to once again sing our National Anthem for the crowd followed by a Sox Baseball game. But we should have known something was up as the field guys were rolling out the tarps even as we sang. Ol’ Mother Nature had different plans for the night, which for us, was a private party in the SOX SkyBox Suite along the 3rd baseline. The sox faithful didn’t see any Baseball played, but the saw/heard the IDES!

We’ve actually had pretty good luck over the years, and haven’t gotten rained out that much, but just as we were to take the Stage in Itasca, Iliinois in July, the Town Fathers and Authorities “pulled the plug” due to heavy weather moving in.The next night, skies were clear as the main street of Westmont, Illinois filled to capacity as far as the eye could see,  welcoming us once again to their great downtown fest.A week later, Weather again gave us a bit of anxiety, with a dire forecast as we took the stage for a mid-week concert in Hillside, Illinois, but the night agreed to let the music play, and so we did!