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The D.I. Lounge - A Place for Adults to Shine By Robert E. Martin It is a Tuesday evening at 6 PM on a nice evening in mid-October and already the parking lot at the Davenport Inn is packed with cars. Stepping into the newly refurbished D.I. Lounge, located inside the Inn at 3325 Davenport, there must be over 100 familiar faces of area professionals, the majority in their 40's & 50's, evenly mixed between men & women that are eager to enjoy the laid-back stylish sophistication of the Lounge while they anxiously anticipate the weekly appearance of musician Bobby Adado, the one-man band who's been packing the Lounge until midnight for several weeks. As one man in his mid-50s explains to me, "This is our place - a clean & classy lounge with reasonable prices and great entertainment that is a diamond in the rough." And judging by the smiling faces of the capacity 130 people enjoying this nightly Happy Hour, most would agree with these sentiments. Formerly a Holiday Inn, the spacious complex that happens to be centrally located between the city & township of Saginaw, was purchased by Saginaw entrepreneur Dr. Samuel Shaheen in January 1998. Immediately Shaheen began renovations on the facility, which included doubling the size of the lounge, completely customizing the walls with sculptured oak & ash, and installing a completely unique pair of fireplaces where the former exterior wall once stood. According to manager Tom Koski, who came on-board at the D.I. in September of '99, "this is a place that appeals to adults." "It's probably the only true cocktail lounge in Saginaw," he continues. "A lot of people come in just for Manhattans & Martinis and our clientele is an older crowd, making this more of a professional lounge. Occasionally younger people stop in for a drink, but our music caters to an older crowd and we're also starting to establish this as a little dance club on Tuesday & Saturday evenings, and are planning on expanding the music into Fridays in December." "All the renovations are Doc's ideas," continues Koski. "He comes in and is very skilled with foresight and then his wife Patty will complete the decorating and they work very well as a team. All the work is done in Doc's own shop. He has very skilled people handling the carpentry, brick, electrical, and plumbing, and nothing is farmed-out, which also makes this unique. It is truly a hometown bar and not a corporate chain." With a restaurant that seats 135 and the lounge that seats 130 and a banquet room that seats 85, plenty of combined space is readily accessible. "We have a very 'basic bar' with very reasonable prices," notes Tom, "and our customers enjoy the fact this is an 'adult' bar. It feels like their bar. In fact, my theme is that if I can't have a bar where a woman can walk in alone and not feel intimidated or out-of-place, than I don't want the bar. No one will ever harass anyone in here because I won't put up with it. It's not a 'fighter's bar' and we have a good core of 200 customers." And tonight, a strong segment of that customer base is here to enjoy the vocal styling, horn work, and piano playing of one Bobby Adado, a corpulent and happy-natured 'one-man-band' that treats the crowd to everything from Louis Armstrong and jitter-bug music to Disco. Bobby Adado With over 500 tunes under his belt, it is very hard for any audience to tire of Bobby. "I've been in the music business 45 years and have seen a lot of changes, a lot of marriages, a lot of divorces, a lot of good shots, and a lot of scar marks," he jokes. "With music I try to do look at the crowd and find what moves them," he continues. "It's not about me, it's about the crowd & what makes them happy. These people at D.I. are dancers - they love to slow dance, but they also like swing & jitterbug and disco." Hailing from Flint, Michigan, Bobby began playing weddings and went right into the nightclub business at the tender age of 15. Prior to 1980, he always performed with a quartet or trio, but when Disco hit the scene and money tightened up Bobby decided to work as a solo. "Even with those other guys I was working alone - that's what gave me the idea!" he laughs. "But seriously, when things tightened up and clubs weren't paying the same money for four guys, I decided to go solo. I play seven instruments including trumpet, sax, alto, flute, piano, drums and bass, and I love to sing." A true showman that at one point in the evening actually plays solos on two saxophones at the same time, Bobby says he also has a couple of original compositions that he intends to get on the market fairly quickly. "I know the tunes people want to hear and the type of beat they enjoy," he reflects. "Many times the beat is more important than the song. I could learn five new tunes and the crowd will still want to hear honky tonk, but I try to add a few new songs every month." When asked what he enjoys most about music, Bobby looks at me straight-up: "Playing my horn, Chivas Regal, all the things that go with it such as meeting people and just knowing I can do it without having to punch a clock and have someone tell me what to do. This never gets tiring." "Bobby never takes a break, I'll say that," interjects Tom Koski. "I wanted to take a break once and Tom said he gave me a break when he gave me this job!" jibes Bobby. Bobby sites his key musical influences as the likes of Louis Prima, Charlie Parker, and The Tijuana Brass. "The Tijuana Brass influenced me to play two horns at one time, which is tough to do. A guy told me he'd give me 20 bucks to play two of them at once and I did it and have been doing it ever since." "This crowd is crazy," concludes Bobby. "They come here to have a good time, which makes my job easier. I love this place. Dr. Shaheen is an ace person. I've known him a long time and when he does something, he does it right, there is no getting around that fact. And moreover, he does it especially for the people of Saginaw and to make this city a better place." With so much crystallizing at once at the D.I. Lounge, Tom adds that the work still isn't finished. "We still have a bit of decorating to do and we have all new furniture coming. Basically, this is like a Cheers bar and we'll also be adding a big sitting room with chairs, sofas, and tables, away from the main bar area, which should be up by Christmas." With the hotel still undergoing renovation on 100 hotel rooms and 16 suites, and the opening of a Tiki Bar and new poolside slated for next summer, the big news on the day of this interview is the announcement that the Crowne Plaza in downtown Saginaw will be closing. Obviously, I am curious as to Tom's thoughts regarding this announcement. "Honestly, they are sad thoughts," he answers. "People put a lot of money into that hotel and I think within the next couple of years, should they turn the Civic Center around, things will turn around downtown. But I don't think the Civic Center can be run properly by a public entity. When working with government you run into a lot of red tape that can be cut with private business. With The D.I. Lounge serving as such an inviting new venue catering to a hungry adult crowd, one cannot help but think of the phrase from the film Field of Dreams, "it you build it they will come." "Enough isn't said about the 'Doc'," concludes Tom Koski. "Look at what that man has done for Saginaw in the last 10 years. When the Horizons Conference Center was built I believe it brought a lot of people out of their homes again. For years people went no place. If you do things right, people will come. |
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