Music notes: Jim Peterik reunites with Ides at Montrose Room

Approaching the Ides

Jim Peterik, leader of the veteran Chicago rock band Ides of March, has a resume most musicians would dream of. He spent time in chart-topping bands like Survivor, wrote or co-wrote enduring pop hits like Survivor's “Eye of the Tiger” and .38 Special's “Hold on Loosely,” traveled all over the world and remains active in music with multiple bands and projects. This weekend he'll perform in the suburbs with his first band, Ides of March, who scored hits in the 1960s and 1970s with songs like “Vehicle” (recently revived by “American Idol” contestant Bo Bice).

8 p.m. Saturday, March 10, at the Montrose Room, located inside the InterContinental Chicago O'Hare hotel, 5300 N. River Road, Rosemont. $20. Go to montroseroom.com.

Homestyle bluegrass

Special Consensus is a Chicago-based bluegrass band that delivers all the energy and acoustic power of traditional bluegrass with a dose of modern attitude. Suburban resident and band co-founder Greg Cahill has been with Special Consensus since the 1970s, and in the process has become a fixture in the bluegrass and roots-rock scene in the Chicago area. The band will bring its powerful songs and wonderful harmonies to a show in the western suburbs this weekend.

8:30 p.m. Saturday, March 10, at Fitzgerald's, 6615 Roosevelt Road, Berwyn. $20. Go to fitzgeraldsnightclub.com.

Indie darling

One of the more talked-about acts to hit the indie-rock scene last year was EMA (short for Erika M. Anderson). The South Dakota native turned heads with her debut full-length record, “Past Life Martyred Saints,” and her blazing performances at key events like the Pitchfork Music Festival. EMA specializes in visceral, atmospheric rock highlighted by her striking voice (a soothing whisper one second, a piercing yell the next) and her love of guitar feedback.

10 p.m. Saturday, March 10, at Lincoln Hall, 2424 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. $12. Go to lincolnhallchicago.com.