Punk greats the Dogs play a rare San Francisco show will local favorites
A veteran outfit with serious punk roots hits the stage at the Bottom of the Hill Friday night when the Dogs deliver a night of raucous rock and roll with support from local favorites Bite and Hyperdrive Kittens.
Following in the footsteps of Detroit's punk progenitors the MC5 and the Stooges, LA-based band the Dogs have helped keep alive a sound that remains a cornerstone of modern rock music for much of the past 50 years. Founded in 1968 by Lansing, Michigan teenagers Loren Molinare (guitar), Mary Kay (bass) and Ron Wood (drums), the Dogs became mainstays on the fruitful Michigan rock scene, sharing stages with their heroes the MC5, the Amboy Dukes and later their guitarist Ted Nugent after he went solo.
The trio would relocate to Detroit proper in 1973, but a year later decided to pursue their rock and roll dreams in New York City, where the band became a vital part of another growing community of bands exploring the music that would evolve into punk rock. Playing with a fledgling Kiss and pioneering bands like the Dictators, Television and the Stillettos (the group that would eventually become Blondie) at such legendary venues as the Coventry, Max's Kansas City and CBGBs.
The Dogs would relocate again in 1976 to Los Angeles, making further progress in the music industry with the release of their first single "John Rock and Roll Sinclair" before landing a management deal that led to the band's first attempt at recording an album, the live taping of a performance at San Franciso's epicenter for punk, the Mabuhay Gardens, in 1977. While the planned full album would never materialize after they split from their managers, the group would self-release their Slash Your Face EP, unleashing one of the most ferocious blasts of early punk rock from the era with the title track.
The band made an abortive move to London that didn't pan out, despite a successful tour of the U.K. They returned to the States in 1980 before eventually going on hiatus in 1981. The band relaunched with a new drummer (current member Tony Matteucci) in 1983, but would take a more extended break when Molinare joined hard-rock band Little Caesar in 1989. By the turn of the millennium, the legend of the Dogs had only grown with the inclusion of "Slash Your Face" on the punk-rock rarities compilation Killed By Death and original copies of their EP exchanging hands for top dollar among collectors.
The interest prodded the trio to reunite in 2000. The Dogs have been active ever since, releasing compilations of early material as well as a pair of new albums and a number of singles. The threesome continues to bash out their singular style of raw Detroit rock and roll for audiences around the world. Despite still being based in Los Angeles, a full decade passed between visits to San Francisco until the band played the Knockout in San Francisco's Mission District in 2018. Last year, the group reissued their second album Hypersensitive, marking the first time the release was issued on vinyl.
The group has made periodic return appearances since then. For this Friday night show at the Bottom of the Hill, the Dogs are joined by raw-powered, early punk inspired SF band Bite. Anchored by singer Chelsea Rose (ex-White Trash Debutantes) and guitarist Keith Mueller (formerly of the Pop 'o' Pies and House of Wheels; he also plays in Dwarves guitarist He Who Cannot Be Named's solo band), Bite has long been a go-to local group frequently pegged to play with visiting punk acts. Opening the show is SF pop-punk group the Hyperdrive Kittens, who will be appearing with special guest Dave Dalton of the Screaming Bloody Marys.
The Dogs with Bite and Hyperdrive Kittens
Friday, Feb. 23, 8 p.m. $15
Bottom of the Hill