Rock Out With Your Blog Out

Saw Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg last night. Only without Dre and Snoop. And that superfluous “g” that all the kids love. It seems like I only pay compliments on this site – but I gotta say, Dr. Dog owned during their 90 minute set.

Are they original? Not particularly. I swear I heard the riff from the end of Abbey Road’s ”Golden Slumbers / Carry That Weight / You Never Give Me Your Money Reprise” medley during one of Dr. Dog’s jams. Pitchfork said it feels like a cop-out to call them ”Beatle-esque,” but there’s simply no way around it. Why be afraid to call a spade a spade?

For me, their familiarity is not a shortcoming. It’s their allure. I can’t go back to the sixties to hear the Fab Four do it better. Dr. Dog is as good as it gets when it comes to retro retreads. It’s practically a misnomer to call Fate a “new” album because it sounds like it was made in 1968. They don’t write tunes about current events or modern things because they know their niche. 

Not everyone can be Radiohead. Five guys wearing fedoras and sunglasses while singing harmonies that slide in and out of key aren’t going to revolutionize music. But that doesn’t prohibit them from putting on an excellent show.

For lack of a better word, Dr. Dog is spunky on stage. They jumped around a lot and strummed with mucho gusto. “Oh No” was my favorite from last night, switching from mid-tempo stomp to fuzzed-out blitzkrieg to audience-supported singalong.     

Other highlights included “The Breeze”, “Ain’t It Strange”, “The Way The Lazy Do”, “The World May Never Know”, “Easy Beat” and meeting the band afterwards.

Yeah, that’s right. Rock Out With Your Blog Out managed to score an interview with Taxi (lead guitarist and vocalist Scott McMiken) and Text (keyboardist Zach Miller) following the show. Only it wasn’t really an interview. It was more of a conversation shared while waiting in line for drinks at the bar.

Through the discussion, I learned a few things about the band: 1) They are extremely approachable and grounded - just good dudes. 2) They had nothing but nice things to say about my new favorite band My Morning Jacket, who they’ve toured with in the past. 3) They are somewhat bummed that they won’t be able to catch Radiohead during their tour of duty at Lollapalooza this weekend. 4) There is no Dr. Dog dress code that mandates that all members wear fedoras on stage. They just all really enjoy hats. 

NOTE: The picture above was taken on my cell phone. This marks the first time that I’ve used a photo with proper permission.