Show Notes: Dr. Dog @ ACL Taping (6/25)

Last night some of the ATH crew had the privilege of attending another ACL taping at the Moody Theatre downtown.  This time around our taping experience was provided by now veteran indie band Dr. Dog out of Philly.  It was a solid taping with no frills Americana rock n roll music and a good time was had by everyone in attendance.  Follow the jump for a few of my thoughts.

I’ll start off by saying, like many other local bloggers, that I haven’t really paid too much attention to the last couple of releases from Dr. Dog.  I’m not really sure why that is, it might be that I feel the band really peaked with impeccable 2008 effort Fate, or I can sometimes just be a lazy music blogger.  To the band’s credit, last night’s performance has already caused me to go back and give more spins to Shame, Shame from 2010 and Be the Void from earlier this year.  Isn’t that what being a musician is all about?  Well done boys.

For their ACL set, Dr. Dog focused almost primarily on music from their last 3 aforementioned albums.  Highlights for me always come when the band bust out quality harmonies reminiscent of The Band on tracks like “Lonesome”, “Do the Trick”, or “The Breeze”.  Speaking of The Band, all I kept thinking last night was how Dr. Dog could easily be labeled a modern version of those old school Canadians.  They have a throwback American vibe, they constantly split singing duties, and their musicianship over the years has gotten better and better.  Maybe it’s a bold comparison, but I can’t come up with another band even close in style and sound.

Other highlights for me would include all songs fronted by bass player Toby Leaman.  It seems to take the guy awhile to warm up his gritty vocals live, but when he does, the power and emotion can’t be matched by the rest of the band.  No offense to fellow frontman Scott McMicken, I just feel like the band comes across as any old indie group when he takes the lead.  Closing number “Heart it Races” by elctro-pop group Architecture in Helsinki was also cool to see live.

All in all, this was a great taping from a no BS rock n roll band.  It’s nice nowadays to catch bands like Dr. Dog that don’t need backing tracks or laptops to create their music.  They plug in, rarely change guitars, and get on with the business at hand.  You should definitely spend the money to see them live next time they are in town.

Side note: This was apparently the second live stream attempt of an ACL Taping.  Would be curious to hear from anyone that watched at home.

Photo provided by Scott Newton of KLRU.  Thanks amigo.