BY GILLIAN G. GAAR

Also on the bill: Girl Trouble, Kate Tucker & The Sons of Sweden.  The Sonics were one of the most influential rock bands to come out of the Pacific Northwest, as becomes clear if you play their garage rock classic "The Witch" and Mudhoney's equally classic "Touch Me, I'm Sick" back to back. But they never made that breakthrough to mainstream acclaim, and broke up in the late ‘60s, playing what they probably thought was a final reunion show in Seattle in 1972. But the past few years have seen something of a renaissance for the proto-grunge group, with the Sonics playing the Cavestomp festival in Brooklyn in 2007, followed by their first-ever European dates in 2008. This Halloween, they performed their first Northwest show in 35 years, bringing down the house with the kind of shrieks and wails that have thrilled discerning listeners from the Beatles to the Cramps to Nirvana.

First up was Seattle outfit Kate Tucker & The Sons of Sweden. "We're gonna warm it up for you," Tucker said, jokingly adding, "We also practice in a garage - in Ballard." (Ballard is Seattle's Scandinavian-enriched neighborhood.) The group's dreamy, jangly guitar pop didn't quite suit the overall mood of the night, but they received a good reception nonetheless. Next came Girl Trouble, who also hail from the Sonics' hometown of Tacoma, and whose brand of surf-guitar garage-punk could easily make them the Sonics' offspring - both literally and figuratively. Lead singer Kurt Kendall played saxophone on a few songs, later taking his shirt off and laying on his back onstage. "Oklahoma City can buy Seattle's Sonics [a reference to Seattle's just-sold basketball team], but they'll never buy Tacoma's Sonics!" Kendall proudly proclaimed at one point.

When Sonics manager Buck Ormsby took the stage to introduce the band, he noted that he'd asked various well-known Sonics fans if they'd do a guest spot, but they turned him down on the grounds that "I want to watch!" Indeed, Mudhoney's Mark Arm and Pearl Jam's Jeff Ament were spotted in the audience amidst folks in Halloween get-up, but there was nonetheless a smattering of guest stars on stage throughout the band's set. The current lineup includes original members Jerry Roslie (lead singer/keyboardist), Larry Parypa (guitar) and Rob Lind (sax), along with Don Wilhelm (bass, formerly of NW act The Daily Flash), and Ricky Lynn Johnson (drums, of NW act The Wailers). Little Steven - Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band's Steve Van Zandt - brought the group on stage with a flourish, announcing, "You're about to find out how you define garage rock!" [Ed note: Though Roslie's first name is typically spelled "Gerry" on record sleeve, in media accounts and even on the band's MySpace page, in this 2007 interview it was revealed that he prefers to spell it "Jerry."]

The band opened with a rousing version of their own "He's Waiting," and turned in a sizzling set sprinkled with rock ‘n' roll/R&B standards ("Money," "Keep-a Knocking," "Lucille") and an unexpected cover of "Werewolves of London," along with their own classics. Van Zandt returned to the stage to play on "Have Love Will Travel" (the Sonics' version was featured in Land Rover's TV ads in 2004) and the garage rock anthem "Louie Louie" (which came close to being Washington state's official song in the mid-‘80s). Kent Morrill, another Wailers alum, joined the band in singing "Dirty Robber," described as "a Tacoma song." The band's pride in their blue-collar roots was evident throughout their set, as when Lind introduced the band after "Money" by stating, "We're a rock ‘n' roll band from Tacoma, Washington... I don't give a crap about Seattle!"

The biggest cheers came for rave-ups like "Psycho" and "Strychnine," and there was an early nod to the holidays with the growling "Don't Believe in Christmas." Despite the passing years, Roslie's high-pitched wailings never faltered, retaining the same frantic energy displayed on the group's original platters. And of course the night could not end until the group performed "The Witch," with Van Zandt again on hand, along with original Sonics drummer Bob Bennett, and the crowd on their feet, screaming out the chorus ("She's gonna make you itch/'cause she's the witch!) with celebratory gusto.

Afterwards, fans waiting in line to get autographs from the group - including one Gary Griswald, who'd performed in pre-Sonics bands with Roslie ("I want to see if he'll recognize me") - with everyone fully satisfied by the night of wild, raging rock ‘n' roll they'd just experienced.