L
ike being a teenager in Chicago during the 1970s and actively attending rock concerts was a magical experience. Longtime friends- journalist Mark Plotnick of Libertyville and photographer / journalist Jim Summaria, formerly of Oak Park and now of Algonquin – attended a plethora of shows of their favorite bands while growing up around the Chicago area.“ I was born and raised in Chicago’ s Rogers Park neighborhood,” Plotnick explains through an email correspondence.“ Once I was old enough, I began frequenting North Side bars to see blues and rock music. But my first large venue concert was the Jefferson Airplane at the Aragon in 1968.”
Meanwhile, over in Oak Park, Summaria’ s family introduced the young boy to the music of Big Bands and crooners such as Frank Sinatra, while his older brother Joe introduced him to the music of Elvis, Little Richard, and other 1950s artists.
By Kelley Simms
chapter dedicated to each act that played at a Chicago-area venue in the 1970s, decorated with Summaria’ s dynamic black-and-white photographs.“ Our first book focused on Jim’ s extraordinary photos in full color,” Plotnick says.“ Text included captions and a few bullet points about each act. With’ 70s Chicagoland Rock Concerts we had far more content freedom, so we focused more on band profiles and histories from formation through 2024.” The book includes captivating quotes from each artist, along with each act’ s musical influences. The duo also included probable concert setlists and each band’ s“ classic lineup,” listed with the instruments each band member played and whether they sang lead or backing vocals.
Summaria and Plotnick are close to completing their third book, which will include an even more extensive look at rock music spanning three decades.“ Our next book will complete the trilogy and will be titled Never Too Old To Rock &
Jim Summaria and Mark Plotnick
By frequenting numerous rock shows at the Auditorium Theater, International Amphitheater, Arie Crown Theatre, Chicago Stadium, and Kinetic Playground, and at B’ Ginnings in Schaumburg, the two friends created an immediate bond over music.“ Jim and I met in the 1980s through a mutual friend, and we immediately bonded over our passion for rock‘ n’ roll and similar musical tastes,” Plotnick says.“ We would go to concerts together, and still do, because Jim is a house photographer at several venues and receives photo passes at many others.”
Summaria began going to concerts in Chicago in 1971, the first being Black Sabbath at the Auditorium Theater.“ I grew up in Oak Park and was in love with music at an early age. I started taking photos at shows in 1972, and by 1973, my photos were good enough that Flip Side Productions hired me as their official photographer at the shows they produced.”
Many years later, the duo decided to immortalize their experiences in book form. The two authors’ first book, Classic Rock – Photographs from Yesterday and Today( Amherst Media), was published in 2019, rapidly sold out, and has never been reprinted. The duo followed that book up with its sequel,’ 70s Chicagoland Rock Concerts, published in 2024.= The impetus for their recent book came after Plotnick retired from his longtime corporate position, and Summaria proposed combining his photographs with Plotnick’ s texts about their previous concert experiences.
The 300-page book features 50 bands, with a
Roll,” Summaria explains.“ It will feature my photos of bands and solo artists from the 1960s,’ 70s, and’ 80s who are still performing at an AARP age. I have about 250 different acts from these decades. Each will have a very short bio, and Mark will write an essay about why music from that era endures. We’ ll also solicit quotes from many of those musicians.”
For a little more than a year now, Summaria and Plotnick have been broadcasting a weekly music / talk / interview & radio / podcast show called That Rock Show with Jim and Mark, airing from the Road to Rock Studio at the Illinois Rock and Roll Museum in Joliet. The show revolves around a different theme each week, and the hosts get to choose the music they play and the artists they interview.“ In early 2025, Ron Romero of the Illinois Rock and Roll Museum invited us to bring our program( formerly on a suburban FM station) to the museum to complement the museum’ s mission,” Plotnick explains.“ Each week for 90 to 120 minutes, Jim and I celebrate the world of rock‘ n’ roll with music, backstories, opinions, humor, and interviews with special guests from the music business. We’ ve interviewed Rock and Roll Hall of Famers as well as other national, international, and local blues artists.”
’ 70s Chicagoland Rock Concerts is available at Barnes & Noble, Barbara’ s, Amazon, Hudson News at O’ Hare Airport, Arcada Theatre, Des Plaines Theatre, and the Illinois Rock & Roll Museum.
Listen to archived That Rock Show with Jim and Mark episodes at www. roadtorock. org / podcast
18 illinoisentertainer. com june 2026