Veruca Salt at the Bowery Ballroom

Nina Gordon and Louise Post

A mutual friend in Chicago introduced Louise Post and Nina Gordon, and the two singer/guitarists began writing songs and playing music together. A year and a half later, in 1993, Gordon's brother, drummer Jim Shapiro, and bassist Steve Lack filled out the alternative rock quartet Veruca Salt, named after the spoiled rich girl in Roald Dahl's children's book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The band achieved success with its first two albums. Post and Gordon then had a still-undisclosed dispute in 1998, resulting in Gordon leaving the band to pursue a solo career. Post kept the name of the band, even as further personnel changes left her as the sole original member. Post had a baby in 2012 and Veruca Salt went on hiatus. The catalyst again is unknown to the public, but after 15 years apart, the original band members reunited in 2013, released a 10-inch vinyl disc containing two new songs, "It's Holy" and "The Museum of Broken Relationships," for Record Store Day 2014, and scheduled an album of new collaborations for fall 2014 release.

It was a good sign to the audience when Post and Gordon walked on stage (and similarly left the stage) holding hands at the Bowery Ballroom tonight. It signified that a rift was mended. The original Veruca Salt was all harmonies again. Veruca Salt began its set with "Get Back," the first track from the band's debut American Thighs album, and carried the old sound faithfully through 21 more songs. The band rocked hard, but the nut was not in Post and Gordon's sporadic guitar solos; it was in their engaging vocals and the pleasant melodies. Although the two new songs were performed, Veruca Salt did not move very far from home base. If you liked Veruca Salt in the 1990s, the band tonight was simply picking up where it left off. By the time the band encored with "Shutterbug", "Volcano Girls", "Victrola" and "Earthcrosser," they had pleased the audience with a full back-catalogue of grrrl anthems.

Visit Veruca Salt at www.verucasalt.com.