Before I talk about everything Dr. Dog did right on Friday, let's to take a moment to note what a week it was for indie rock shows in Bloomington and at the Bird. I knew these would be popular shows, but I was astounded nonetheless by the overwhelming turnout I saw Friday and the overwhelming turnout that I heard about Wednesday for Cold War Kids. Many other indie rock groups - some far more distinguished - have headlined this venue in the past year and could not draw nearly as many as either of these two. Not Guided by Voices. Definitely not Stars. Probably no one since Yeasayer/Washed Out last fall, and I certainly didn't expect Dr. Dog to challenge that. Shows how much I know.
Before Friday, I had not seen Dr. Dog perform since August 2008. I was disappointed to miss their successful Vid show last year, but then again, I would have never predicted how successful it was given their adequate performance the last time I saw them.
Well, maybe it was the reputation they developed in this city with that Vid performance. Maybe it was the addition of material from their most recent album that came out last year, Shame, Shame: their finest by far in my opinion. Maybe it was Toby Leaman's spookily uncanny resemblance to fellow bassist Christian Wargo of Fleet Foxes. But from the first chord of "Stranger," they just seemed more at home in front of a big crowd. More natural. More commanding.
Or maybe it was the fans, who definitely did their parts to make them feel at home too. The flurry of beach balls that richoched about in the first 30 seconds was an unexpected sight, and you couldn't help but feel good for frontmen Leaman and Scott McMicken when everyone drowned out their voices during the, "Looking high, looking low/Where did all the shadow people go?" of highlight "Shadow People."
But it did seem all along that they had planned to attack this one like a headlining set at Glastonbury - nay, this show was their Glastonbury in a way. As McMicken himself commented during our interview last week, "Places like Bloomington and stuff, you get the impression- for an upper, bigger-size college town, there's definitely an air of, 'We're going to a show and that means we're gonna have fun!' Instead of, 'We're going to a show and that means we're going to stand and analyze and absorb.' We don't like that. We would prefer to just be a party bar band."
After all, how many rock bands would use that elaborate of a stage setup involving zero strobe lights at a small nightclub in Southern Indiana? Dr. Dog's was designed more or less to look exactly like your great grandmother's foyer right down to the hideous lamps and antiquarian paintings filling up the solid magenta walls (which they apparently provided themselves).
And take a look at the setlist below - there's no doubt it's their first string. They took the chance to promote brand new material too, but not until the back end of their main set once the crowd was securely in their palms. They continued to play their cards perfectly through the 3-song encore too - "Jackie Wants a Black Eye," a breezy sing-and-clap-along for drunk people at its core, could not have been a more perfect choice to open it with.
It seems Dr. Dog, now over a decade into their career, has finally learned how to evade their biggest criticisms (no influences past Beatles/Young/Dylan and too much blatant recycling of those artists' greatest work) through live performance. Granted, songs like "The Beach" and "The Ark" on record can sound like barely-reinvented covers of "Ballad of a Thin Man" and "I Want You (She's so Heavy)," respectively. But if you think those album versions do the band justice today, think again. Just as like-minded groups Blitzen Trapper and The Black Keys quelled similar stabs by fine-tuning a powerful stage presence, the members of Dr. Dog are growing into their power chords.
From end to end, it was a fun night that did not require close listening to fully appreciate but rewarded it nonetheless. Special thanks to Spirit of '68 Promotions for a great week of shows.
Complete setlist:
Stranger
Mirror Mirror
The Ark
From
Hang On
I Only Wear Blue
Worst Trip
Shadow People
Take Me Into Town
My Friend
The Beach
Control Yourself
Someday
The Breeze
Warrior Man
The Rabbit, The Bat, And The Reindeer
Heart It Races
Jackie Wants A Black Eye
The Way The Lazy Do
Fuck It
Post and photography by Steven Arroyo
