Baby Alright

The cover band is oft and unfairly maligned as a moneymaking venture for booze-swilling bad boys who’ve got no particular place to be on any given night other than the corner tap. But cool cover bands are often a fuck of a lot of fun—they’re a nice breather from the expectations one brings to gigs from “hot new bands” and “hyped artists.” You see a lot more smiles onstage—and hell, they often know how to play.

Exactly, one might say, why the Boogie Band has been such a good time over the years. This indie-level supergroup, renamed Baby Alright, has compiled a playlist of R&B and soul gems and the odd classic-rock indulgence—yes, they’ve done Derek and the Dominos’ “Bell Bottom Blues”—that makes for a memorable night out, with dancing. Since coming together in 2005, the band has held residencies at dive bar the Big Horse and hip roadhouse the Hideout, and we’re happy to hear it’s got an indefinite weekly residency at Sonotheque. Baby Alright doesn’t tend to sweat the details, but pulls off well over two hours of entertainment that allows plenty of time for both highs and lows.

The members’ impressive résumés—guitarist Leroy Bach played in a fine bar band called Wilco, Cairo Gang’s Emmett Kelly backed Beth Orton on a tour, drummer Dan Bitney works with Tortoise and bassist Matt Lux played in Isotope 217—tend to overstate what this outfit is about: keeping it loose and spontaneous and playing some indestructible songs with the weight of history behind them. Bach tells us they’ve added to the prodigious set list tunes by Bobby Womack and Lee Dorsey, as well as a version of “End of the World” by Skeeter Davis. Singer Marvin Tate brings an outsider’s touch to the proceedings, setting this far apart from anything you’d hear in a blues joint—except perhaps in a Jim Jarmusch film.