Here we go again folks, Dogstar is back in town, roughly 4 months into their All In Now tour, which has taken them across the U.S.A., over to Europe for weeks on end, then back across the States once again.
This is maybe the 7th Concert Review of Dogstar on this blog, and I don’t know at this point how many times I have seen them. Maybe 30? It’s hard to say… And no, I’m not some middle-aged fan boy of Keanu – though he is a delightful gentleman – no, in fact every single show I’ve been to is because of Bret, their guitarist/vocalist. Bret and I go back 40+ years. We played our first gigs together at school events and house parties. We wrote our first songs together. We played our first night club shows together. Our first time in a recording studio was together, the first time our song got played on the radio… He was my Best Man when I got married nearly 35 years ago, his family is like my own. He’s the closest thing I’ve ever had to a brother. And I couldn’t be more proud of him. He’s come a long way and worked his hind end off to achieve the level of musicianship he’s reached.
So yes, every single time I have an opportunity to see him and his band, I’ll be there. And now you all get to hear about it too!
The opening band was The Backfires, whom I’d never heard of before today. Because it was a show up in the city and I had to work today, I didn’t get there until their set was almost finished. I heard one song as I was coming into the venue and actually got to see them perform the last song of the set. But that was it. I can’t really say much about them other than their lead guitarist seemed pretty darn good. I wish I’d been able to see a little more of them.
Dogstar put up a solid set, pulled from their most recent album and their last. They definitely seemed tighter as a band after all these months on the road and knocked out a good hour-plus before coming back for an encore. I still think they should pull out some of the tunes from their earlier albums – Our Little Visionary has some absolute bangers that deserve to be played live, but for whatever reason they’re just sticking with the Dogstar v2.0 repertoire. One really pleasant surprise was them whipping out “Can’t Hardly Wait” by The Replacements during their set. They did an excellent cover of that song and for me personally, it brought back some great memories. The Replacements were a big influence on Bret and I when we were coming up and it was a touching homage to some wonderful days gone by…
Keanu played great, and honestly I expected no less of him. I know he takes his instrument seriously, and it shows. A lot of people were there just to “see” him, and it’s a shame, cuz he’s actually a fine musician that deserves an audience’s ears more than their eyes.
Rob did his thing on the drums. I try not to say much about him, as I’m afraid it’ll come off as petty. I can’t help but hear Bret’s songs with what I would play behind them, and that’s not fair. Rob does what he does and I do what I do, and they’re simply different. He held it down, and that’s what works for Dogstar.
Bret was in fine form. The tour has certainly pushed his abilities and he’s just getting better all the time. His voice sounded great, which honestly was a bit of a surprise, I half expected him to be worn out a bit after dozens and dozens of shows for months on end, but his voice sounded really strong. And his guitar playing was absolutely on point all night. Great tone, great solos, just all around impressive. And I could tell it meant a great deal to him to be back at The Fillmore, “hometown” shows are always just a bit extra.
So once again I’d say it was a great show. Am I biased? Undoubtedly. But they are a seasoned band. They’ve been putting in the work, and it shows. This ain’t no vanity project, this is the real deal and Dogstar puts out good, solid rock and roll as good as anybody out there on the road today.
They’ve still got maybe 10 or so shows left on this tour, if you have the opportunity, go check them out. If you like tasty guitar and thumping bass, you will not be disappointed! And if you happen to meet any of the guys, tell them the Boring Old Man sent ya!
Thanks for stopping by!
