Having reemerged in 2023 after a 20-plus year hiatus, Dogstar has hit the road on their “Summer Vacation Tour,” bringing their latest release, Somewhere Between the Power Lines and Palm Trees, to fans across North America including a Sunday night stop at The Catalyst in Santa Cruz, a relatively modest-sized venue compared to their other tour dates with a capacity of around 800. So to say that Santa Cruz turned up for Dogstar would be an understatement—the line to get into the sold out show stretched down the block and around the corner when the doors opened at 7PM.
The evening kicked off with a 30-minute set by Sons of Silver out of Los Angeles. Singer/guitarist Peter Argyropoulos was all smiles as the band crammed in front of Dogstar’s equipment on the tiny Catalyst stage, clearly happy to back in a “proper rock ‘n’ roll club.” The packed general admission floor was another reason for the band to celebrate as they used their opening slot to showcase material off of their upcoming release, Runaway Emotions, clearly gaining some new fans in the process.
The energy in the room ran high, necks craning for any view of the band as Dogstar’s set time approached. To someone unfamiliar with the band, a scan around the room may have been a bit confounding; no doubt there were plenty of Keanu Reeves super fans and curiosity seekers, but the vast majority of the room was stacked with die-hard Dogstar-ers, there for the music. So, when the band took the stage just past 9PM and launched into “Blonde” without fanfare, the place went nuts.
The band appeared deliberate in not riding Reeves’ (who didn’t even have mic) fame, rather letting the music speak for itself. Bret Domrose did double-duty on guitar and vocals with aplomb as drummer Rob Mailhouse held down the beat with Reeves on bass as the set covered a broad swathe of new material punctuated by “How the Story Ends,” “Glimmer,” and “Breach.”
With a nod to the band’s diverse style, the band’s 4-song encore included a pair of covers—The Cure’s “Just Like Heaven” (which had ironically been played over the house PA between bands) and The Ramones’ “I Wanna Be Sedated.” All-in-all a great night of rock and roll!
SONS OF SILVER
