Chicago rocks on at Tulalip

Playing the Tulalip Amphitheatre brings back powerful memories for Lee Loughnane, one of the original band members of the legendary "rock 'n' roll band with horns" Chicago.

Loughnane, whose lungs give voice to the group's trumpet, still vividly remembers a gig in Marysville on Sept. 12, 2001.

The band and audience still were stunned by the recent terror attacks in New York and Washington, DC.

"The emotion of what had happened in the country was on my mind," Loughnane, 63, said. "It was great to be able to share some music and take away some of that pain."

On Wednesday , the group returns to the Tulalip and this year, they're bringing a different reason for swelling emotions.

The band teamed up with the American Cancer Society to help raise money for the fight against breast cancer. Fans can bid in an online auction for great tickets, backstage passes and the opportunity to join the band on stage and sing the group's famous song, "If You Leave Me Now."

"You never know what you're going to get," Loughnane said. "Because it's for charity, no matter what comes out of it, it's a fabulous experience."

Winners from the first leg of the tour launched a Facebook page, "I Sang With Chicago," and you can watch their very own Susan Boyle-moments on YouTube.

A little bit of jazz, some rock and just a touch of soul, Chicago's hits line up one after the other. There's "Make Me Smile," "25 or 6 to 4," "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is," "Saturday in the Park," "Just You 'n Me," "Wishing You Were Here," "Hard to Say I'm Sorry," "Hard Habit to Break" and "You're the Inspiration."

Generation of fans love the songs, Loughnane said.

"It makes a lot easier to play the songs because there's a response," he said. "The audience plays with us. They're a part of the band as we're performing."

He remembers his first road trip to the Pacific Northwest in 1968, shortly after the band moved to California. Back then, the group toured in two stationwagons and an Econoline van. They shared a pair of rooms at the Holiday Inn: one for partying, one for sleeping, Loughnane said.

"We had our humble beginnings," he said.

Today, they travel in more luxury on rented buses or by air for long hauls. And no more shared rooms.

"We stay at the hotels where you don't have to go outside to go to someone else's room," he said.

It may not be a Saturday, or in the park, but the sing-along at the Tulalip sure should be a lot of fun.

"I'm loving life," the horn player said. "I couldn't have imagined it being any better."

Jackson Holtz: 425-339-3447; jholtz@heraldnet.com.