Saw Doctors Live Tonight at Monmouth U

May 11, 2010 • 11:08 am

By Jean Mikle

The first time I saw the Saw Doctors in concert was more than a decade ago at The Saint in Asbury Park. I went not really knowing what to expect, being familiar with only one of their songs, their biggest smash, “I Useta Lover.” What I witnessed was a full-on rock and roll party that had audience in the packed club literally bouncing up and down (it reminded me of a poppier version of a Ramones concert).

I was so impressed I went out and bought all the Saw Doctors cds I could (at that time maybe only three had been released in the U.S.) and have made it a point since to see them repeatedly at venues as varied as the late, great Tradewinds in Sea Bright and the Surf Club in Ortley Beach.

Tonight the fun-loving Irish folk rockers will play at Monmouth University’s Pollak Theatre at 8 p.m. Tickets are $25 and you are guaranteed to have a smile on your face when you leave the theatre. The Saw Doctors present rock n’roll as a fun, communal activity.

By the way, a “saw doctor” was a kind of traveling saw sharpener who journeyed from saw mill to saw mill to sharpen and repair saws.