July 30, 2008
Dr. Dog
Dr. Dog –
Back when there use to be a band called The BaySayBoos (which I was the drummer for) Mr. Matt Pace (now of Rats and People fan) handed me a copy of Dr. Dog’s album “Easy Beat”. Mr. Pace said to me, “ my brother lives in Philadelphia and he loves this band.” I spent the next 3 years listening to that CD. “Easy Beat” is one of those records that comes along and becomes the soundtrack to a certain period of your life. Every song on that album is perfection. Simple, to the point good pop songs like bands use to make back when bands made good pop songs. My love affair ran deep with that Dr. Dog record, telling everyone who would listen that they have to buy that album. I even went so far as to try and book the band at the now closed Radio Cherokee for the sole purpose of having them perform at a small venue in a town they had yet to play. That show fell through but as fate would have it they played St. Louis the next year at Mississippi Nights opening for The Black Keys. This was one of the best shows I had ever been to at Mississippi Nights not to mention the last show I attended before it closed down. I’m sure I looked like a fool dancing around taking photos of the band performing, singing the words to all their songs while everyone on the floor wondered to themselves who is the great band playing and how does this strange guy know all their tunes? Their next show in St. Louis was at the Creepy Crawl and by then you could see the wear and tear of touring had taken a toll on The Dog but they still put on a great show promoting their album at the time “We All Belong”. And that brings us to today. You can be entertained by them two times and hear tunes from their new record “Fate”. First at Vintage Vinyl at 5pm (FREE) and then at The Blue Bird ($12/$14).
Dr. Dog at Mississippi Nights 2006
Dr. Dog at Creepy Crawl 2007
photographs by Dana Smith