Shanda & The Howlers bring their rhythm and blues revival sound to the Sand Dollar Lounge, a room that's been soaking up blues since the 1970s. The walls here have heard Muddy Waters and B.B. King work a crowd, and that lineage runs through every band that takes this small stage, Shanda & The Howlers included.

Expect the kind of tight, soulful groove that fills a dive bar with warmth—horns cutting through cigarette-tinged air, a rhythm section locked in, vocals that growl and croon in equal measure. The Sand Dollar isn't a polished venue, and that's the point; it's sticky floors and cold drinks and a stage low enough that you could reach out and touch the guitarist's amp. No cover means you can wander in, grab a stool at the bar, and let the band work through a set that'll have you nodding along before the first song's even over.

This is a late-night kind of show, the sort where the band plays loose and the crowd gets looser, trading blues standards for deep cuts and back again. It's 21 and up, so expect a crowd that's there for the music and the drinks, not much else.