The Ides of March – The Man-Pop Festival
Posted in Music on August 14th 2003 by Randy Reichardt:: When I was in high school some 32 years ago, I played lead guitar in a rock band called Ram. (The Paul McCartney album of the same name appeared some months afterwards, btw.) We were an eleven-piece band: bass, drums, 2 lead singers, 2 guitarists, Hammond organ, and saxophone, trombone and two trumpets. The first song we learned to play was “Vehicle“, by the Chicago-based group, The Ides of March. Now Rhino Handmade has issued “The Ides Of March – Friendly Strangers: The Warner Bros. Recordings“, a limited edition release of 2,500 numbered copies.
From the above web site are these words: The Ides spent most of 1970 on the road, opening for Led Zeppelin, Janis Joplin, and Iron Butterfly (one entertainment headline read “Ides Of March Steal The Show” after an off night for Zeppelin). I can report that I saw The Ides of March play on that tour, sans Joplin, but with The Youngbloods, led by Jesse Colin Young, on August 29, 1970, in Winnipeg, at what was called the Man-Pop Festival.
The festival began in the Winnipeg Stadium earlier that day, but rain forced 18,000 of us into the Winnipeg Arena – a decision made behind the scenes so as to allow the concert to continue. Imagine the sound technicians having to move the equipment in the rain from the stadium into the arena on a few minutes notice! I still am in awe of how they did it. I was 18 at the time. I can’t remember how it was that we didn’t trample each other trying to get into the arena. I remember ending up sitting in a chair on the arena floor, watching (in order): The Youngbloods, The Ides of March, Iron Butterfly, and Led Zeppelin. Tickets were $5.50, and if we turned in a receipt or something, we got a dollar back.
I don’t remember much about the show. I recall that after moving into the arena, The Youngbloods almost put the audience to sleep. Remember: “C’mon people now, smile on your brother, everybody get together, try to love one another, right now.. ” A great tune, but gentle country rock wasn’t what we needed right then and there. The Ides followed, and rocked out the arena. I remember Led Zeppelin coming on around 2:00 am, opening with “Immigrant Song” (which no one knew, as their third album had yet to appear), and moving right into “Heartbreaker“, which we all knew at that time – a big FM hit from LZ II.
When the show was over, around 4:00 am, we left the arena, not sure how we’d get home, only to find dozens of Winnipeg Transit buses waiting to take us home.
