Three Dog Night sets free Spa City concert

HOT SPRINGS — Iconic rock ’n’ roll band Three Dog Night will perform a free public concert in downtown Hot Springs March 17, immediately after the First Ever 16th Annual World’s Shortest St. Patrick’s Day Parade, Visit Hot Springs announced last week.

The band will perform on the Bridge Street Stage at the intersection of Bridge Street, Broadway, Malvern Avenue and Convention Boulevard. No chairs will be permitted at the concert or at a pre-parade concert on March 16, according to Steve Arrison, chief executive officer of Visit Hot Springs.

Another free public concert featuring Smash Mouth will be held at 8 p.m. on March 16 at the same venue, marking the second consecutive year that two concerts have been offered as part of the parade festivities.

Three Dog Night is celebrating more than 50 years in the music business. The band’s hits include “One,” “Mama Told Me (Not To Come),” “Joy to the World,” “Black and White,” “Shambala” “Easy To Be Hard,” “An Old Fashioned Love Song,” “Never Been To Spain,” “Eli’s Coming” and “Celebrate.”

The band’s 1999 greatest-hits album, The Best of Three Dog Night: 20th Century Masters, has been certified gold with more than a million copies sold. It reached the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart years after its release, testifying to the band’s continued popularity, according to a biography provided by Visit Hot Springs.

The band’s members include founder and lead vocalist Danny Hutton, guitarist Michael Allsup, bassist Paul Kingery, drummer Pat Bautz, keyboardist Howard Laravea, and vocalist David Morgan.

The band’s now-famous name refers to native Australian hunters in the Outback who huddled with their dogs for warmth on cold nights, the coldest being a “three-dog night.”

The First Ever 16th Annual World’s Shortest St. Patrick’s Day Parade, will feature actor Ralph Macchio, famous for The Karate Kid and My Cousin Vinny, as the celebrity grand marshal. DJ and dancer Stephen “tWitch” Boss will be the official starter.