Dr. Dog @ The Electric Factory, 5/13/10

Philly Favorite Dr. Dog moving up to the big stage.

By, Sarah Glorioso

Thursday, May 13th, was a huge day for Philadelphia natives, Dr. Dog.  It was their first sold out Electric Factory show and they absolutely packed the place with screaming fans.  Toby Leaman, the bassists and co-lead singer, even admitted to the crowd that he was very emotional and overwhelmed to realize that they had been there so many times to see other bands play and now they are playing at the location for their own fans.  While they played songs from a variety of albums, they mostly focused on songs off their new album, Shame, Shame, which was their first album signed with Anti-Records (Man Man, Nick Cave).  They put a lot of work into their current tour, and that is why this concert, in comparison to the other five times I’ve seen the band, was outstanding, inside and out.

Before Dr. Dog entered the room, the opening band Deer Tick started the show at roughly 8:30 p.m.  With their plaid shirts and elegant light show, they definitely impressed the audience.  The band is originally from Providence, Rhode Island and had the privilege to go on tour with Dr. Dog this spring.  The lead singer and guitarist, John McCauley, has a raspy and deeper voice while guitarist Andrew Tobiassen and the bassist Christopher Dale Ryan’s voices heavily compliment the lead melody on backup.  They have somewhat of a bluegrass, country rock kind of feel, although they are usually labeled under folk rock.  Deer Tick is signed on Partisan Records and has a new album entitled The Black Dirt Sessions, which is set to come out on June 8^th.

Deer Tick providing fantastic support to the Dog men.

A taste of what was to come.

Around 9:30, after Deer Tick had left the stage, the lights went dim and the crowd started to get excited.  The covers were ripped off of Dr. Dog’s set, revealing a new pattern of three dots on all of their equipment, which allegedly represents a paw print and will serve as the band’s new logo.  The backdrop was covered in overlapping spots of an eclectic arrangement of colors, not to mention the black lights accentuating the different colors on stage.

Before the members walked on stage, a song about hot dogs was played, followed by a recording of some sort… a strange departure for the band to say the least. Finally, the members took their places on the stage, and opened their show with their second single from Shame, Shame called “Stranger.”  The crowd went insane as soon as they heard the opening note to the song.  A mosh pit of flannel ensued.  The band continued their set with another Shame, Shame jem called “I Only Wear Blue.”  Scott McMicken, guitarist and co-lead singer, began singing this song, reflecting his depressive yet realistic feelings about himself and his feelings about people in general – my favorite line being “when you can’t be yourself, there’s just too much to be.”

Next up, McMicken began singing a hit from fifth album released in 2008, Fate, named “The Old Days,” which was followed by another Fate tracks entitled “Army of Ancients.”  Toby Leaman sings “Army of Ancients” and many other songs from Fate, which is a diverse approach to the album due to the contrast between his low, raspy voice and McMicken’s high, meek voice.  After these songs, they played “Mirror, Mirror,” another one of my favorites off of Shame, Shame that starts with a bluesy feel and is accompanied by McMicken’s voice.

Dr. Dog played a large selection of their album Fate, including “The Ark,” “The Rabbit, the Bat, and the Reindeer,” “Hang On,” “The Beach,” “The Breeze,” and “My Friend.”  More surprisingly, though, they played a selection of their fourth album, entitled We All Belong, which was released in February of 2007.  The crowd went crazy when McMicken began singing the bluesy, catchy song from this album called “The Girl.”  McMicken also sang “The Way the Lazy Do” from the We All Belong, which got the fans dancing together and serenading those next standing next to them.  To catch everyone off guard, Dr. Dog also included We All Belong’s slow, reminiscent song called “Die, Die, Die” in their encore set.  I have never seen them play this song live, so it was nice to hear them reaching back within their catalogue.

Dr. Dog played other new songs from Shame, Shame, including “Unbearable Why,” “Station,” the first single off the album “Shadow People,” “Someday,” “Where’d All the Time Go,” the fast-paced and ever-so-catchy “Later,” “Shame, Shame,” and the melodious “Jackie Wants a Black Eye.”  This is, in my opinion, the “The Breeze” of Shame, Shame if you’re more familiar with Fate. It’s an uplifting yet realistic song, uniting people through the realization that we have all had pain in our lives and that “We are all in it together now, as we all fall apart.”  (The story of how this song was written is very interesting and explained here).

The encore of this show was most fulfilling and it was easy to tell that the band really outdid themselves when planning it.  They included the catchy song “Oh No,” from their 2004 album Easy Beat. They also played a little jingle called “Fat Dog.”  The most surprising and rarely played song that Dr. Dog included in their encore was their 2007 cover of Architecture in Helsinki’s song, “Heart it Races.” Of everyone I’ve met that had previously seen Dr. Dog, none of them ever suspected Dr. Dog to play this cover live.  It was breathtaking and caught the audience completely off guard. Dr. Dog really put together a great show, complete with a new album, newly played songs, and an exciting and new set. I can’t wait to see them on tour again in the fall and you should definitely join me in buying tickets as soon as they go on sale!