ROCKIN’ SIDNEY FALLS ON TOOT TOOT

When was the last time you saw a band with three accordionists? That sounded good? Such was the case Friday at Club Lingerie when veteran vocalist/squeeze-boxer Rockin’ Sidney and his band launched into last year’s Grammy-winning “My Toot Toot,” an utterly infectious lowdown hoedown that has inspired enough re-recordings to qualify as the “Louie Louie” of Louisiana for the ‘80s.

Aside from this transcendent moment, Rockin’ Sidney (Simien) proved during his first set to be strictly a journeyman talent, leading his integrated septet through 40 minutes of soul ‘n’ blues, zydeco two-steps ‘n’ waltzes. Sidney’s other great tune, “You Ain’t Nothin’ But Fine”--better known in versions by Rockpile and the Fabulous Thunderbirds--was inexplicably absent. That and the half-filled room contributed to the evening’s ultimately freeze-dried, rather than fresh, aftertaste.