Dr. Dog, Gutter Twins Engage the Power of the Riff

Looking (and spasming) like the Blues Brothers' distant cousin, Dr. Dog frontman Scott McMicken lead his band through a set of meat and potatoes riffage that made believers out of the afternoon crowd. Though the group stuck mostly to familiar poses, the most exciting moments came when things threatened to spiral out of control, like the swirling honky tonk breakdown during "The Old Days."

Across a field, the Gutter Twins (former Screaming Trees singer Mark Lanegan and Greg Dulli of the Afghan Whigs) released a little bit of evil into the breezy afternoon air. Their churning slabs of sexy psychedelia are meant to be consumed late at night in smoky barrooms, so they sounded a tad out of place. However, that didn't stop them from gaining some converts with their slow-burning tales of obsession — most notably on their cover of Massive Attack's "Live With Me."

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Song Stories

“Tonight's the Night”

The Shirelles | 1960

The lead cut and title track from this girl group's debut album, "Tonight's the Night" was written by 19-year-old bandmember Shirley Owens, who sings lead, and producer Luther Dixon. The band from Passaic, New Jersey met in high school, first calling themselves the Pequellos. The song's frank thoughts about sexual and emotional surrender was racy for the time, but that didn't stop the Chiffons from cutting a similar version immediately after the original came out. "We were the first female group to write some of our own material," band member Beverly Lee recalls. "We did have some say-so in our writing."

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