Kalamazoo Avenue Band plays at Dowagiac’s Summer in the City

Published 9:08 pm Wednesday, July 18, 2012

When the musicians of Kalamazoo Avenue Band take center stage at Dowagiac’s Summer in the City Festival July 26, the black suits, skinny black ties, fedoras and wayfarer sunglasses will exemplify one of America’s iconic bands of the 1980s: The Blues Brothers.

Appearing for its third time in Dowagiac as the Beckwith Park Summer Concert Series overlaps with Summer in the City, Thursday’s concert by Kalamazoo Avenue Band opens at 7 p.m.

The Kalamazoo Avenue Band will present an electric, high-energy rock, rhythm and blues revue, featuring music by Chicago, The Beatles and The Blues Brothers.

The festival opens July 26 and continues through Saturday.

The band will perform until 8:30 p.m. at the Haggin-Wimberley Memorial Bandstand, where audience members can enjoy a complimentary ice cream social and drawings in conjunction with Huntington Night, in honor of the concert series’ underwriter.

The original Blues Brothers outgrew the confines of the television screen, releasing the 1978 album, “Briefcase Full of Blues.” That record was followed in 1980 by the feature film, “The Blues Brothers.” The album’s success is credited with sparking a renewed interest in blues, R&B and jazz in a new and younger audience.