PHOTOS: SPIKE PERKINS | It’s extremely rare for a band to get back together after a 25-year absence. But that’s exactly what happened on a Monday night last month. And it’s happening again Saturday night at the Maple Leaf Bar.
The SongDogs were a sensation in New Orleans for three years in the late 1980s. Seven seasoned local musicians formed a super group of sorts whose intent was to honor the songs each had written while keeping the dance floor hopping.
With the vivacious Alison Young out front on lead vocals and keyboardist Lisa Mednick singing back up, the group carved out a niche in a crowded musical marketplace and created a stir that roused national interest. The twin guitar attack of Bruce McDonald (pictured at top) and Red Priest kept even the hardest rockers interested in the band’s compelling sound. Drummer Paul Santopadre, bassist Paul Clement, and violinist/vocalist Tom Marron rounded out the group.
Marron is not part of the reunion, but all of the other players are on board with the addition of “superfan” Richard Bates on guitar.
This effort could easily have been fraught with peril. But their set at Chickie Wah Wah last month proved they still have the chemistry and chops despite the passage of time.
The songs, which were always paramount the first time around, hold up amazingly well revealing pop and new wave influences amid a decidedly New Orleans groove. Even more interestingly, some of the lyrics were prescient and sound as relevant today as they did back in the day.
The band plans on playing an acoustic first set and then rocking out in the second half. I expect some waves of nostalgia washing over the crowd at the Maple Leaf, it was the club they played at the most, but this is no legacy act.
They have new tunes, written by Young, who is also playing ukulele now and their energy was positively infectious at the previous performance. The crowd was pleasantly curious at the beginning and dancing like it was 1989 at the end. It was on a Monday night, so this weekend show should be epic.
