DOWAGIAC — A small but enthusiastic crowd was taken back to the 1970s and early 1980s by the music of Chicago, performed by one of the premier tribute bands, Transit Authority, as the Dogwood Festival continued at the Dowagiac Middle School Saturday night.

The super group Chicago formed in 1967 under the name Chicago Transit Authority.

Describing itself as a “rock and roll band with horns,” Chicago Transit Authority, which shortened its name to Chicago in 1969, would go on to sell more than 40 million records in United States, including 23 gold, 18 platinum and eight multi-platinum.

Chicago was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016.

One would think that if you were in the premier tribune band that performs all of the bands greatest hits, along with some of its most complex pieces such as “The Ballet,” everyone would be a huge fan, but that is not the case, at least for founding member Tim Ellis, who plays drums for Transit Authority.

“Well, 16 years ago, I sat around my apartment living room and decided I really wanted to put together a horn band,” Ellis said. “I wasn’t exactly infatuated with Chicago. I was familiar with the band, and I thought they were really cool, but I wasn’t that infatuated with them. So, I did some research in the library and holy moly, it is endless. It was just so easy to put together a song list of huge hits and cool tunes.”

Some of the early Chicago albums particularly drew Ellis’ attention, and Transit Authority concentrates on the first four records, as well as all the mega-hits.

“The first album we cover almost entirely,” Ellis said. “The music was challenging, and it pushes us even after 16 years. I am blessed to work with some really talented guys.”

Tom Tange, who plays trumpet and flugelhorn, is an original member, along with Scott Johnson, who plays sax and flute.

The remaining members — Barry Patrick (vocals/percussion), Butch Zierath (bassist/vocals), Alan Lecher (trombone/vocals/percussion) and Brandon Lenz (guitar/vocals) — have been with the group a long time.

Dave Adler on keyboards and vocals is the “spring chicken,” as he describes himself.

Among the many hits such as “Saturday in the Park” and “25 or 6 to 4,” Transit Authority also treated the crowd to “Introduction” and “I’m a Man” off the first album, “Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon,” which is more than 13 minutes long, actually consists of seven pieces and produced hits “Colour My World” and “Make Me Smile.”

“The Ballet” is the band’s favorite, and most challenging, song to perform.

“It is the most involved,” Ellis said. “It has so many different movements that are different from each other and only one of the movements is repeated, which is basically the ‘Make Me Smile’ part of the song that we start with and then end with.”

While the DMS Performing Arts Center may not exactly have been a “Saturday in the Park,” the fans who saw Transity Authority were transported back to the 1970s and 1980s through a collection of Chicago hits, including, most fittingly, “Oldies.”