| Arbor Avenue Station is a four-piece,
mostly original blues/rock band hailing from DuPage county. The band
(guitarist/vocalist/percussionist Leonard Washington, guitarist Jim Foster, bassist Jason
Gade, and drummer/percussionist Pat Duran) augments the traditional blues/rock band lineup
with the addition of acoustic guitar and congas. This gives them a slightly different
sound than your average blues-influenced band, putting them in a stylistic camp that
includes blues-based but not blues-bound acts like Little Feat and Santana. The
songwriting of Leonard Washington, the bands’ principal writer, puts a pleasant pop
spin on their sound also, grafting some hooks onto their grooves.
Their hooks and grooves were in no short supply during the
group’s appearance at Dilligaf’s (5401 W. Addison, Chicago). The band took the
stage around 11pm and tore into a set comprised mostly of songs from their self-titled
debut CD "Arbor Avenue Station". From the opening song "Love in
Doubt", an uptempo number in a Santana-ish pocket, to the heartbreak blues of
"She Does What She Wants", to their heavied-up version of Santana’s
"Evil Ways", the band gave those assembled a taste of a slightly different blues
sound, a sound that might fit in a bit better on rock radio than many of AAS’s more
traditional contemporaries.
Having said that, I must admit that this was not a stellar night for Arbor Avenue
Station. They were playing far from their suburban home base, which made their draw a
little light. Also, the sound system at the venue was not the greatest, the weakest part
of it being the sound man himself, who was playing pool away from the mixing board by the
group’s second song. Having said THAT, credit must be given to Arbor Avenue Station
for persevering and turning in as good and professional a performance as they were able in
such a tough situation. They still played with drive and enthusiasm, and sometimes
that’s what matters most. This is a band that is probably best seen on their own
turf. One of their suburban shows would be worthy of investigation.
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