Concert Wrap: Dr. Dog, May 3 @ George's
May 4th, 2010 at 5:38 pm
We didn’t take any photos of the show, but this is an approximation. Dr. Dog covers Architecture in Helsinki’s “Heart it Races,” just like they did on Monday night at George’s Majestic Lounge.
When did Dr. Dog get so good?
No, really. When did they get so good?
Dr. Dog, a group of psychedelic rock revivalists from Philadelphia, are no strangers to Fayetteville, and no doubt many of the 600 or so who caught them at George’s Majestic Lounge on Monday night (May 3) were coming back for more.
Count me among that group, having seen two of their previous shows, including offering a review of a show two years back.
I liked their live performances before, or I wouldn’t have been there. But I don’t remember seeing them as powerful or triumphant as on Monday, buoyed by the singing of the crowd and the strength of their newest material, “Shame, Shame,” an album released in April.
This was something altogether different. There is a lot of 2010 left to go, but one has to consider this among the front runners for the best concerts of the year list.
Liking the concert was in some ways predicated on liking the band’s last two albums. The bulk of the setlist was pulled from those recordings. All of those tracks were greeted warmly by those in the crowd (which included tonight’s entertainer, Ryan Bingham), especially tracks such as “Shadow People,” “Jackie Wants A Black Eye” and “Mirror, Mirror” from the newest album and “The Ark,” “Hang On” and “The Breeze” from the previous effort, “Fate.”
The band would play all of the 11 tracks on “Shame, Shame” during the course of the evening.
There were a few exceptions, notably a well-traveled cover of Architecture in Helsinki’s “Heart It Races,” which was one of many songs that earned a singalong during the evening.
With a more advanced light show than they had previous demonstrated here and transitional movements between the hook-heavy songs, The Dog did plenty to show off the kind of music maturation that a year spent on the road will provide a band.
Their exuberance in delivering the songs — and the crowd’s in dancing around — made up for a lack of some of the band’s better early cuts.
Instead, the band kept a quick pace in moving between the 22 songs they offered in a set that lasted a little less than two hours.
And even that seemed quick.
It’s hard to to notice the time passing when you are engrossed in what’s happening onstage.
A note about the opener: Rhode Island’s Deer Tick served as the opening act and served that role well. In a set that was equally noisy and melodic, the band offered savvy originals such as “Me, Me, Me” in the addition to a cover of ZZ Top’s “Cheap Sunglasses.” The group ended with a high-velocity jam that was met with plenty of applause.
Dr. Dog Setlist: 1) Stranger; 2) I Only Wear Blue; 3) The Old Days; 4) Army of Ancients; 5) The Breeze; 6) Mirror, Mirror; 7) The Ark; 8) Station; 9) The Rabbit, The Bat And The Reindeer; 10) Someday; 11) Shadow People; 12) Where’d All The Time Go?; 13) The Beach; 14) Unbearable Why; 15) Hang On; 16) The Girl; 17) Later; 18) The Way The Lazy Do; 19) Shame, Shame;
Encore: 20) Jackie Wants A Black Eye; 21) Heart It Races; 22) $&!@ It