Darien Musician Finds Good Fortune with The Ides of March

The opening act was performing his first official concert; the main band will celebrate their 48th anniversary this fall.

Each performer, however, brought the same energy and vivacity to the stage Saturday at the Montrose Room in the InterContinental O’Hare in Rosemont.

Darien’s own , 25, featuring Jim Peterik, who has mentored Salgado for the past 18 months and is now producing him as he writes his first album.

“Andrew is an amazing songwriter,” Peterik said in an interview after the show. “That’s what hooked me first because it’s really hard to find a good songwriter.”

The day the two met, Salgado played a song he wrote called “Cooties to Kisses,” which he described during the concert as “by far the cutest song in the world.”

“I go, ‘You wrote that?’” Peterik said. “He played six more, and every one was great.” 

It didn’t take long for Salgado to win over Saturday’s audience, either. By the second song, the standing-room only crowd was clapping along and gamely interacting with his amiable stage banter. (It didn’t hurt that the ladies found him easy on the eyes: “He’s so cute!” one woman stage-whispered to another.) 

Salgado played mostly original country/pop songs during the half-hour acoustic set, a departure from the covers he’s known for during gigs at pubs such as in Downers Grove. Many of the songs will appear on his upcoming album, which will likely be released sometime this spring.

“I’m feeling really good,” Salgado said after the show. “The night stayed high the whole two hours.” 

The Ides of March came on stage within minutes after Salgado finished, maintaining the momentum he set in motion. The band, founded in Berwyn in the mid 60s, played a mix of their own songs as well as other Peterik-penned tunes, including tracks made famous by Survivor, of which he was a member during the 1980s, and southern rockers .38 Special. 

The group opened with “Live Life,” a rousing track from their 2010 release Still 19, followed by the Survivor classic “High on You.” Peterik explained the song wasn’t about drugs but rather getting high on the collective experience of listening to music.

The tight, exuberant performance was like watching a master class in rock, from their first hit, “You Wouldn’t Listen," to the unmistakable horn riff that opens “Vehicle,” to perhaps Peterik’s most famous song, Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger.”

Just as the audience lit up while they danced and sang along to the songs they know so well, Peterik said he and his band mates still get the same thrill from performing. 

“To me, it’s all about the audience,” he said. “If I’ve got an audience responding to what I do, it keeps me going like a circle back and forth. I love what I do.”

Like a proud father, Peterik said he sees an energy and star quality in Salgado that he predicts will bring the same longevity. Peterik said he immediately felt a chemistry with Salgado that convinced him to welcome the young musician into the small stable of artists he produces.

“I liked his ideas, he liked my ideas,” Peterik said. “It was like magic."

From the line of fans who crowded in for Salgado’s autograph after the show, it was clear they felt the magic, too.